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...

On the 30th of June, 2016, Dr Stephan Rist and Mrs Bettina Scharrer, from the Centre for Development and Environment and Dr. Moser, from the Archives of Rural History – both structures within the University of Bern, Switzerland – hosted the first workshop of a project called “The importance of solidarity...

GRIFORVALOR is a thematic network funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. Its focus is turning waste, by-products and residues from agriculture and forestry into a valuable product or resource for industry through ‘Biomass Innovation Design Hubs’.

The “Grünbuch Ernährung, Landwirtschaft, Ländliche Räume" defines measures andguidelines for a sustainable policy for food, agriculture and rural areas.

En Afrique de l’Ouest, les achats institutionnels de produits locaux prennent de l’ampleur. On peut citer par exemple la modification des procédures d’achats du Programme alimentaire mondial (Pam) pour s’approvisionner en partie localement ; la constitution par certains États (Bénin, Mali, Niger, Togo) de stocks tampons pour les produits alimentaires...

In agroecology, farmers continuously build situation-specific knowledge that allows them to develop under unpredictable and changing circumstances. There are no  fixed prescriptions in agroecology about how to produce, process, market or store food, feed, medicine and fibre. Rather, different practices work in different ways depending on each specific context and ecosystem....

This project specifically aims at increasing local value-added of Armenian organic products as well as assisting higher efficiency of relevant public and private institutions. It will support the RA Ministry of Agriculture with creating a clear and enabling legal environment for organic producers and processors in line with international standards....

Between September 16 and 18, 2016 the North Moravian City of Ostrava will play host to a meeting of the European organizations and communities involved in the project of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The purpose of this gathering that will be attended by over a hundred people from all over...

Meeting in Lille, France, over two days (19-20/09/2016) member organisations from the Netherlands, France and the UK representing small scale fishers reliant on Bass, discussed and agreed a LIFE position for transmission to the European Commission and Member States.

Since the autumn of 2013, the Commission has worked on a proposal for a new law to replace the current Organic Regulation. There is an ongoing trialogue process which is proceeding at a pace agreed on by the three EU institutions at the beginning of the Slovak Presidency,