The EU AgriResearch Conference is dedicated to scientists, farmers, rural communities, industry, advisors, policy-makers, citizens and NGO representatives who wish to learn about EU agriculture and rural R&I activities and achievements and to have their say on how to shape the future of agriculture R&I after 2020. The conference will...

This edition of the EU Rural Review focuses on the resource efficiency challenge and examines what the concept of ‘doing more with less’ means for rural development in this regard. The Earth’s natural resources are fundamental to health, well-being and quality of life on the planet. As the global population approaches...

Twenty years of organising by women in Europe’s fisheries have led to important gains, challenges and opportunities. In Europe, fisheries are considered a male activity, as men represent the main labour force on fishing vessels. This stereotype has dominated European society for many decades, despite the fact that several social scientists...

Following the publication last November of the European Commission's Communication on the Future of Food & Farming, the latest EU-wide Eurobarometer survey of public opinion about the common agricultural policy show that just over 60% of respondents believe that the common agricultural policy (CAP) benefits all citizens and not just...

The Portuguese National Rural Network has launched a website dedicated to innovation for agriculture. It highlights innovation in Portugal and, more widely, in Europe that can contribute to more sustainability and productivity in agriculture, forestry and rural areas. The website also includes information on Operational Groups and other innovative projects that...

  2018 is the year for change and action! As part of the European days of Action, Urgenci joins forces with organizations across Europe to call out to decision makers to support a sustainable transformation of our food systems. During the month of October awareness rising events will take place across...

Dairy farming is currently facing a number of challenges. On the one hand, the products have to meet high environmental standards and animal welfare requirements, on the other hand the market demands cheap products. Kirsten Wosnitza, who runs a farm of 120 dairy cows in Schleswig-Holstein with her husband Gerd...

The EU plans to spend on rural development policy nearly 100 billion euro for the period 2014-2020 through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). An objective of the EU strategic framework for 2014-2020 was to focus more on results. However, efforts to achieve this faced the perennial problem...

The EAFRD holds a budget of €96.4 billion and is available for co-financing rural development projects in the 27 EU Member States. Governed by Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, the EAFRD is focused on three main types of rural development activities. These are: • Improving the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry;...

European tastes are changing and so must farms, therefore we need to support a transition away from industrial animal farming

International treaties and conventions encourage national governments to recognize, protect, and promote traditional knowledge, including traditional agroecological knowledge. Following this mandate, a multidisciplinary team of Spanish scientists from 7 universities and research centers have worked together with the Spanish seed network ‘Red de Semillas: Resembrando e Intercambiando’ to develop CONECT-e....

New project – OK-Net EcoFeed – aims at helping organic pig and poultry farmers in achieving the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed. A key objective of organic farming is that animals are fed with feed produced at or near the farm. Yet, this is difficult to achieve...

EIP-AGRI Operational Groups are innovative projects that aim to find practical solutions to problems or opportunities which European farmers and foresters are currently facing. More than 3200 are planned by national and regional Rural Development Programmes for the period 2014-2020. Operational Groups can benefit from networking and collaborating with organisations...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has continuously demonstrated within its work that gender equality is not simply a matter of human rights, but is key to eliminating poverty and hunger. It is only by closing the gender gap that sustainable agriculture and rural development can...

Agriculture and food industry sectors have a major importance for the Moldovan economy. The Republic of Moldova has one of the highest share of rural population among the countries in Europe and Central Asia, and its agriculture sector significantly contributes to the country’s gross domestic product. The Food and Agriculture...

Agroecological symbiosis (AES) is a new, transformative model for adaptive and resilient localized food production and consumption. An AES is formed by farms, small and medium-scale food processors, and bioenergy producers working as one system, in close proximity to each other. The physical proximity is dictated by the ecological necessity...

The agricultural holdings without legal status, largely overlapping the rural population’s households and providing content to the individual households, namely the peasant households, preserve the continuity of the vernacular village in terms of the community land and in demographic terms, through the families living in the villages, whose main occupation...

The benefits of cooperation and opportunities for small- and medium-sized dairy enterprises topped the agenda of the Second Caucasus Dairy Congress held in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, today. The event, supported by the European Union and Georgia’s Ministry of Agriculture, was the latest effort by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development...

FAO’s Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia 2018 (Regional SOFI 2018 in ECA) describes the current situation vis-à-vis SDG 2 in countries of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. It focuses in particular on the countries’ status in relation to SDG Target 2.1...

Small-scale agroecological and organic farming systems require appropriate machinery and technologies, and a change of paradigm in the way they are conceived, produced, sold and patented. The mainstream agricultural model has led to machines that are getting increasingly bigger and more expensive and complicated, and thus inaccessible for many farmers...