“Some of the experiences that were shared during this meeting are so interesting and innovative that they deserve to be replicated in Portugal.” Ana Fonseca, from the agro-ecological community Montado do Freixo do Meio in Portugal joined the cohort and shares her impressions on the philosophy and food production of the Rural Resilience event. […]
On 26 January, the future of post-Brexit agricultural policy in England became clearer with the government’s announcement of six new standards under its Sustainable Farming Incentive. While English farmers may cautiously welcome this long-awaited update, serious challenges remain for the sector in England, and across the United Kingdom. Marianne Landzettel reports. […]
Reflecting on the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which took place earlier this month, Ursula Billington traces common threads that emerged from the rich programme. […]
It looks set to be another stimulating start to the year for real foodies and regenerative farmers as the Oxford Real Farming Conference, “the largest gathering of the agroecological movement on the planet”, returns from 4 – 6 January 2023. […]
Fabienne and Sébastien opened the farm gates a long time ago. In fact, they make a point of visiting other farms, in order to respect different approaches. Finding solutions in cooperative approaches, they helped set up an abattoir co-op with other poultry farmers as a direct, bottom-up response to increasingly complex issues of animal welfare and biosecurity. Part two of a conversation with Valérie Geslin. […]
For farmers, succession is more than just passing on the physical farm, land and buildings. Once you build up a successful farming enterprise, how do you ensure all of that knowledge and experience is not lost? It’s a question that preoccupies all of the farmers who participated in the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” project. Part two of a series analysing the hot topics around transition, by the “Nos Campagnes en Résilience” team. […]
The winds of winter are blowing into Europe, over in Egypt is a different wind gathering force? A wind of change? Until the 18th of November, COP27 is taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Last year’s COP in Glasgow has largely been viewed by the international community as underwhelming. So what’s going on in COP and in agri-climate news? Sometimes it’s important to follow the money… […]
We’re back on Ciasnocha Family Farm in Poland, where bad weather and the pressures of war in neighbouring Ukraine have made for a difficult season of haymaking. Right now many decisions are on hold as they wait for the new year and a new CAP. Meanwhile, Mateusz has had the privilege of fruitful harvests beyond the farm gate. Meeting other regenerative farmers and young entrepreneurs during a trip to the US has energised his advocacy work. […]
While Japan continues to drive the high-tech smartification of agriculture, what is the role of digitalisation for a diversified, agroecological family farm in a rural part of Hyogo Prefecture? Matteo Metta writes this report from Hashimoto Farm in Ichijimachō […]
In Loire-Atlantique, in western France, ARC2020 and Nos Campagnes en Resilience hosted a rural gathering. The weekend created space for farmers, rural actors, regional and European organisations and policymakers to share, reflect and prepare action for the future of our countryside. […]
What does digitalisation mean from the perspectives of a diversified, dairy family farm in rural Japan? For more than three generations, the Sudo Family has adapted their farm to the challenges and opportunities of working and living in the southern tip of the Bōsō Peninsula of Japan, Chiba Prefecture. […]
Sébastien loves bread. Shaped by a farming background, he was drawn to cooking, but experience taught him that the reality in the kitchen was very far from his ideals. Fabienne studied accounting and worked a corporate job in the city. She was happy to team up with her husband Sébastien on the farm in the West of France. Here in their on-farm bakery, between batches of bread, they share their views on life as farmer-bakers. […]
Not all agri-sectors have the same impact. As the debate in Ireland over greenhouse gas emissions cuts for economic sectors intensifies, who is thinking about the fair share within sectors? Here we republish an article from Rural Ireland on the Move, our report from April this year. In it, Fintan Kelly – agriculture and land use policy and advocacy officer with the Irish Environmental Network – examines the idea of a fair share on emissions within agriculture. […]
In the past two years, ARC2020 has been listening closely to voices on the ground in the French countryside. What have we learned? What do the participants have to say? And what’s next for the Nos Campagnes en Résilience project? The key themes emerging from the research so far were presented to the project participants at an online gathering in June, when a lively discussion helped to collectively shape the direction for the future. Report by the Nos Campagnes en Résilience team. […]
What’s next for our countrysides? Before we even begin to consider re-scaling the rural, we must slow down and work in deep collaboration and coproduction – with all. This requires deep listening to the voices on the ground. But also trusting farmers and artists, who are skilled at working alongside and within communities, human and nonhuman. Otherwise we will continue to do the countryside a disservice, argues Kate Genever. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention