Small family farms are in general extensively managed in Estonia and are in general structured in a way which facilitates outdoor systems (e.g. pastures convenient to the animal housing). Having said that, there are no specific conditions in the Pillar 1 payment rules which would exclude intensive or indoor farming...

The call on Sustainable Food Security dedicates €431 million to ensure sufficient, safe and nutritious food for all, while safeguarding natural resources. Tackling the challenge of how to feed 9 billion people sustainably by 2050, this call puts approaches that aim at using nature and resources better at the heart...

The €128 million Rural Renaissance call is about opportunities for sustainable rural growth, looked at through integrated approaches, cutting across sectors and taking a territorial perspective. It has the ambition to modernise policies and governance, and foster new business developments. The projects should boost innovation, advising and demonstration approaches in...

Approximately 38% of the EU budget (equivalent to 0.4% of the Union’s GDP) is spent on agriculture and rural development. This pooling of resources at EU level ensures efficient and effective spending that avoids distorting the internal market and delivers a wide range of public goods. It is much more...

Statistical publication 2014

Land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is believed to be expanding at an alarming rate, accompanied by the lowest agriculture and livestock yields of any region in the world. While cereal production has increased marginally over the past two decades, more than 70 percent of this growth is due to...

Since the mid-term review, the French government has had the objective of maintaining grass-based livestock systems, and sheep and goat systems in particular. This has been translated into significant financial transfers from arable farms to the livestock sector. The new CAP continues this policy in favour of livestock systems, through...

Органическое земледелие некоторым, возможно, покажется возвращением к прошлому, традиционным методам сельского хозяйства и средним векам. Пока мир отчаянно борется с ГМО на полках магазинов и вымиранием некоторых видов насекомых из-за пестицидов, органическое земледелие предлагает работающую и безопасную перспективу развития. Об особенностях данного вида сельского хозяйства, его плюсах и тонкостях нашему порталу...

Ireland is a single payment region on paper. However, the convergence process will not be completed by 2019 (the Department commitment is that no-one will have a payment rate below 60% of the 2019 national average by that time) and payment rates over the national average will only be reduced...

Decades of archived soil research have now been transformed into an accurate, up-to-date, and fully functioning information system – based on state-of-the-art digital soil mapping techniques. The new Macedonian Soil Information System or “MASIS” – formally launched here today – was developed with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization...

A total of 7,000 three-week-old chickens are being distributed this week to small farms in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Provision of the birds is the latest move by FAO to help vulnerable households whose livelihoods have been compromised by the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. The dual-purpose chickens – which can...

The 17 regional governments in Spain have considerable autonomy in agricultural and nature conservation policies. There are 17 individual Rural Development Programmes, as well as a national programme for certain measures. In the case of Pillar 1 of the CAP, a common model of implementation was agreed between all the...

Georgians have a proud tradition of dairy products but in recent years the country’s dairy farmers have struggled to meet production and quality demands. FAO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are working with Georgia to pave the way for improved food quality and safety for dairy products. Following...

Central Asia is one of the oldest areas of human civilization. Uzbekistan is home to several sites of ancient irrigated agriculture. Archaeological data indicate that by the end of the 2nd millennium BCE in the delta region of the Amu Darya river, the agricultural civilization of ancient Khorezm already had...

This Policy Brief has been issued in conjunction with and partly as a summary of "Towards effective national forest funds", Forestry Paper no. 174. It aims to give a quick overview of the mechanism of financing sustainable forest management projects through national forest funds (NFFs) and on how this financing...

This brief describes the changing context within which public forestry administrations operate and outlines concrete steps they can take to adapt to this changing context and to strengthen their capacity to fulfil their mandates.

Agriculture still remains a little attractive to most of investors. Modern investment into agrarian sector of Kazakhstan and growth of its investment appeal restrains an acute shortage of financial resources, poorly developed material base, low solvent demand of the population therefore growth of investments is one of major factors of...

Agriculture is a devolved power in all 3 cases in the UK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland); English agricultural matters are run by an England-only administration (Defra) but under the control of UK Ministers and the UK parliament. The environment is similarly devolved, but habitat conservation status for Article 17...

A voluntary contribution of US$ 6 million from the Russian Federation will enable FAO to provide technical assistance to the governments of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the area of food security, nutrition and sustainable agricultural development. Despite considerable economic growth and improvements in household welfare in recent years, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan...

Summer mountain dairy farming has a long tradition in Norway. At the same time it seems to be more interest in seasonal mountain processing expected due to: Health aspects of mountain products may be important for demand Grazing is to be promoted due to animal welfare concerns The risks are probably related to...