L’agroécologie est avant tout une discipline scientifique au carrefour de l’agronomie et de l’écologie. C’est aussi la somme des pratiques qui en découlent. Elle permet non seulement de transformer l’agriculture mais aussi de repenser l’ensemble des systèmes alimentaires afin de les rendre plus durables. Elle vise à conjuguer production agricole...

The CIHEAM WATCH LETTER n°38 to be published in October 2016 on "Rural innovations and digital revolution in agriculture " wishes to provide a regional Mediterranean overview in terms of innovation in rural areas and the role of ICT in agriculture. This issue will be resolutely prospective and rich in...

Europe is at the heart of a rapid worldwide change marked by global economic changes and environmental challenges. Many States choose to face these challenges by strengthening their urban policies, considering that economic dynamics are mainly based on the competitiveness of urban poles. On the other hand, rural territories are...

The slowdown in the world economic growth, in particular in commodity-exporting emerging economies contributes to a persistent general decline in commodity prices, including in still oversupplied crude oil. The slight re-appreciation of the euro to 1.15 EUR/USD affects the competitive advantage of the EU in the world market. In 2016,...

Budget invested in EU farming (nearly 0.30€/citizen/day) contributes to a stable and sustainable supply of safe food at affordable prices to the citizens in EU's 28 Member States.

ultifunctional forests offer diversified opportunities of sustainably optimising the usage of natural resources and creating rural development opportunities. That is why they play a key role in the successful implementation of the EU bioeconomy strategy. In order to explore innovative approaches in creating new values from multifunctional forests the EIP-AGRI network...

“Putting farmers first” is the main theme of Terra Madre Balkans 2016. 350 delegates will be arriving from 13 countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, The Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Italy and Albania). The Balkan region hosts a wide variety of farmers. For this reason,...

Euromontana is delighted to present the 2016 European Charter for Mountain Quality Food Products! The Charter is the next step in over fifteen years of work by Euromontana to promote the preservation and valorization of mountain quality food products. We invite you to join us in celebrating this step forward...

The aim of this study has been to analyse the changes in farm structures in the post socialist Central and Eastern Member States of the EU (EU-10) through the period since their accession to the EU, to explain the drivers of these changes, to evaluate the different development paths of...

Think of Italy and one thinks of food, but not many people think 'mountains.' Yet mountains remain a principle source of the traditional, handcrafted food production Italy is famous for. Since climate and gradients combined render large-scale industrial agriculture unfeasible, food traditions and environmental health endure in most of Italy's mountains....

Enike and Istvan run a CSA farm that provides many of our Ecoruralis hosts with their weekly box on a year-round basis. The essential aspects of shared risk and benefits are in place, as is the year-long commitment to their farm, even if payment is made on a weekly basis....

In the coming year, the Commission will work in the framework of the 10 priorities outlined in the Political Guidelines – presented at the start of our mandate following discussions with the European Parliament and inspired by the European Council's 'Strategic agenda for the Union in times of change' –...

The project 'Economic Assessment of GHG mitigation policy options for EU agriculture (EcAMPA)' is designed to assess some aspects of a potential inclusion of the agricultural sector into the EU 2030 climate policy framework. In the context of possible reductions of non-CO2 emissions from EU agriculture, the scenario results of...

Rural land provides a range of key functions and services on which society depends. However environmental and social benefits continue to be undervalued in land management decisions. Using the concepts of public goods and ecosystem services, the PEGASUS project will investigate new ways of thinking about the way farmland and forests...

The food supply chain plays a substantial role in the European economy, connecting sectors such as agricultural, food processing industry and distribution that together make more than 5% of European value-added and 7% of employment. Furthermore, all European consumers are directly affected by EU food supply chain performance since food...

Organised by the European Commission, the European Development Days (EDD) bring the development community together each year to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. For its tenth anniversary, EDD 2016 will focus on the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable...

The forestry sector has seen many changes in recent years, leading to a need for adapted management methods. Demands of society and markets are evolving, bioeconomy is increasingly important and new business potential and innovative possibilities are appearing. A Finnish project looked into how to support forest owners in this...

150 peasants and eaters from 26 countries stretching from Ireland in the West to Georgia in the East and Norway in the North to Greece in the South of Europe came together from 16th to 18th September 2016 in the framework of the 3rd European Meeting of Community Supported Agriculture...

Sustainable agriculture and food systems will play an important role as countries across Europe and Central Asia pursue the new global goals for human society and the planet. An FAO-organized workshop in Budapest this week is discussing the essential connections between sustainable agriculture and food systems on the one hand, and...

This report is a background brief of current succession processes on family farms in Europe, consisting of data gathered from questionnaires and open interviews, to inform the Farm-Success Project. Family farms represent an important resource throughout Europe, which help reduce unemployment rates, tackle demographic challenges of European farming and maintain and...