France Archives - Page 5 of 12 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

France | Lessons from Agricultural Archeology

January 3, 2021 Sjoerd Wartena

Since he first set foot in Vachères-en-Quint in La Drôme, France, almost half a century ago, Sjoerd Wartena has followed in the footsteps of the older generation, who taught him how to farm and raise animals in these austere uplands. Still fascinated by the ways of our predecessors, he has taken to tracing the remnants of farming practices indigenous to the area. Here he reflects on what we can learn from past generations and their ability to adapt to harsh conditions. […]

France | Letter To The Next Generation

December 21, 2020 Sjoerd Wartena

Sjoerd Wartena first went “back to nature” almost half a century ago. In this letter to the younger generation he reflects on our relationship with nature and the land, the importance of modelling change, and the role of humility and compassion in giving humanity a second chance. […]

PAN Europe Reveals: Member States Act Against EU Pesticide Reduction

December 3, 2020 ARC

The way forward is for farmers to embrace the ecological transition that the European Green Deal is proposing and to use Integrated Past Management to work with – not against – nature. But a number of Member States are actively working against pesticide reduction, reveals Pesticide Action Network Europe. […]

France | Brittany Banks On Agroecological Transition

July 5, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Brittany’s sustainable farmers have breathed a collective sigh of relief as further funding is secured for the agroecological transition. But while the region makes the most of CAP Pillar 2, the French state continues to prop up factory farms with Pillar 1. Louise Kelleher has more. […]

France Sees World’s Biggest Increase in Organic Land Area

March 1, 2020 Oliver Moore

The organic market in France was worth E 9.1 billion in 2018, according to “The World of Organic Agriculture 2020” which comes out every February. Organic land area in France grew by 16.7% in 2018 – a huge increase for a single year. This growth of 290,000 hectares brings France to 2.04 million hectares, now second only to Spain in Europe, and the sixth highest land area farmed organically in the world. […]

Rural Dialogues | Intergenerational Collaboration in the Vineyards of Southern France

November 6, 2019 Natasha Foote

Lack of access to affordable land is one they key obstacles to new farming entrants. The sector is suffering from a seriously aging population which puts the future of European small-scale farming at risk. How can we encourage more young people to get into the profession when access to land is so tricky? Natasha Foote talks us through the problem and explores one exciting approach on the vineyards of Southern France. […]

Agriculture Atlas | The Biggest Beneficiary

September 16, 2019 EditorialARC2020

France is the largest recipient of Common Agricultural Policy funds. But there are significant disparities among the country’s regions, between types of production, and among farms. […]

France, Agroecology & the Coming CAP Reform

June 27, 2019 Oliver Moore

Agroecology is much talked about, and practiced in many regions, but how does it relate to the word of policy-making? In some countries such as France, agroecology forms the basis of developing agri-food policy – albeit in a contested and sometimes contradictory way. […]

Rural Dialogues | Peasants of Nature – French Initiative Reconciles Agriculture & Biodiversity

June 20, 2019 Claire Bernardin

There are farmers interested in the environment, and environmentalists interested in farming…and now, there are environmentalists who have started to farm in a way that speaks to their values. Meet France’s Peasants of Nature. […]

Rural dialogues – Let’s talk!

May 5, 2019 Hannes Lorenzen

Introducing our next debate series – rural dialogues. What is the state of play for rural Europe? Are rural places still lagging behind – forgotten, disadvantaged and in need of extra supports? Or is there a rural renaissance of sorts occurring, from smart villages to innovation hubs? Tell us what you know and let’s get talking! […]

France to Use CAP for Agroecological Transition?

February 6, 2019 ARC

Back in December, the French government published a position paper on the proposed CAP reform. This document included some of the expected, cautious remarks but also took some unexpected turns – for one promoting an agroecological transition. We pick out the key takeaways here. […]

France | Land Concentration – a Case For Regulation

January 23, 2019 ARC

All over Europe there is an issue with land concentration. The number of farms in France has halved over 25 years. Official figures underestimate the extent of land concentration in France. So what can be done about this? […]

AgtechTakeback | Show me the Money – Debt, Technology and Path Dependence

November 11, 2018 Laura Skove

New technological advances in digital agriculture are poised to further transform the business and science of growing crops. But technology comes at a cost, and it is worth considering the impact of farm debt on farmers’ ability to innovate and to transition towards agroecological practices.With Laura Skove in Paris. […]

AgtechTakeback – Technical Sovereignty and L’Atelier Paysan’s Tooled up French Farmers

October 18, 2018 ARC

A farm hack movement has emerged to really take the power back on the land in rural areas. In France this is especially developed, with L’Atelier Paysan empower farmers, using participatory methods, to devleop appropriate, affordable open sourced tools of the trade, machines and even buildings. Plus they throw great parties. Julien Reynier tells us more. […]

An Agro-Ecological Europe by 2050: a Credible Scenario?

September 23, 2018 ARC

The “Ten Years for Agroecology in Europe” (TYFA) scenario developed jointly by IDDRI and the consultancy firm AScA, in collaboration with a scientific council composed of leading researchers, shows that a fully agro-ecological Europe, free from synthetic inputs and based on the redeployment of natural grasslands and the extension of agro-ecological infrastructures (hedges, trees, ponds, stony habitats), could sustainably feed 530 million Europeans by 2050. […]