The official policy of the present Norwegian government is to encourage fewer, bigger farms. With only 3% of the land suitable for farming, Norwegian agricultural production is limited and most of the food comes from abroad. In the fjords, there are big salmon farms largely for export, and Norway still...

Current situation in European agriculture has to meet new challenges due to volatile agricultural markets and uncertain political situation in neighbouring countries. Past events have shown various bottlenecks in contemporary food production and trade. In order to provide for global food security, it is necessary to intensify agriculture, boost production,...

Forests are vital to achieving the SDGs and the aims of the Paris Agreement. Without action to protect forests, the problems posed by poverty and climate change will only get worse, 

The fish in the sea are a public resource and provide not only a vital source of protein and nutrients for billions of people globally but also 60 million jobs in the primary sector, 90% of them in small scale fishing and 15% of them women. Closer to home, the European...

Lone Andersen is an organic dairy farmer from the west of Denmark. Along with her husband, she has been working with robotic technology since 2009 and she says “it has not only improved welfare for the cows, but also for us as farmers!” 

Les activités agricoles génèrent, parallèlement à la production de biens agricoles, des externalités négatives (coûts sociaux) ou positives (bénéfices ou aménités) non pris en compte par le marché. La réduction des externalités négatives et l’accroissement des externalités positives représentent des atouts pour la collectivité, qui peuvent justifier un soutien financier de la société....

The United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) was established in June 2013 through a Resolution by the UN General Assembly as the main forum for sustainable development issues within the UN framework. Its establishment is one the main outcomes of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development...

This document discusses the process of structural change in the agricultural sectors of the western Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU). Conventional agro-political discourse and scientific theory (especially agricultural economics) generally understands structural change as being a uni-directional process that involves the gradual disappearance of small farms and...

Mediterranean grasslands (including rangelands, pastures, meadows, fodder crops) are important resources covering up to 48% of the whole region. Although these ecosystems are a key element in the production of high quality animal products and in the livelihoods of producers, they provide a range of ecosystem services besides forage production,...

EVENT TO BE HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE CZECH MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MARIAN JURECKA 11 − 12 November 2016, Krtiny, Czech Republic The conference is prepared for farmers, LAG representatives, rural NGOs and members of municipalities. The topic is business start-up aid for young farmers and good practise examples. The conference...

he workshop 'Operational Groups: first experiences' took place in Legnaro, Italy, on 20-21 April 2016. Some Operational Group participants took the time to talk to us and tell us about their experiences.

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...