Farmers in France are seeking growth through direct sales, short supply chains and local agriculture, targeting a burgeoning market in local produce. In 2014, a study on French citizens and local consumption found that 75% of people wanted to buy more products from their local area. Short supply chains are reassuring...

Climate change can still be rather abstract for many amongst us. We hear about melting poles, a global increase in hurricane intensity or rising temperatures. For many Europeans this phenomenon does not seem to affect their daily lives. But this is not grasping the full picture. The food you consume...

The Common Agricultural Policy, particularly in its second pillar, contains measures and resources to improve gender equality and women’s access to work and economic activity. The gender equality gap is wider in rural areas than in cities. More and more women are finding empowerment through agriculture. In turn, they guarantee the survival of...

In essence, ‘doing more with less’ is about reducing the pressure on existing resources and avoiding economic and environmental costs associated with excessive resource use. Avoiding over-exploitation can ensure that resources are still available to future generations. At the same time, promoting more efficient resource use can ensure that sustainable...

Trade in agriculture must now also play a central role in implementing many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by the United Nations in autumn 2015. The SDGs will have a direct and profound effect on trade in agriculture. Agriculture, in turn, will have a key role in...

Teagasc (Ireland) has developed an online benchmarking tool to help Irish farmers identify the areas which need improvement on their farm. Dairy, cattle, sheep, tillage and pig enterprises can use the “eProfit Monitor” to analyse key financial and physical data from their farm and compare this to results from other...

The rural productive and land management sectors generate significant amounts of organic waste in forms such as wood residues (such as bark, hedge trimmings or leaves), manure, food processing waste and agricultural residues (such as straw). These ‘waste’ products have a significant amount of energetic value. New technologies and greater...

Healthy food and nutrition is a very immediate and personal part of our lives, and it is our agricultural sector that lays the foundation for this. Our agricultural, horticultural, viticultural and forestry sectors are also instrumental in shaping our homeland and landscapes. Food, agriculture and homeland: since time immemorial, these...

NATEXPO is organised at the initiative of Natexbio,  the French Federation of the Organic Sector, member of the IFOAM EU network, with the support of its member associations Synadis Bio, Synadiet and Synabio, and the participation of Cosmebio, France Vin Bio and Agence Bio. Natexpo, the international trade show for organic products,...

Croatia imports a large part of the fruits and vegetables it consumes. Yet, with a rich national tradition of fruit and vegetable production – and optimal climate and soil conditions for it – the country has real potential to produce more. It could meet the demand for high-quality produce at...

The transfer of the notion of generational change to family farms is really a very important a issue for us, which we have devoted a great deal of attention to in the long term. It is not so much a surprise that we (now more than two years ago) have...

Stepping up their long and fruitful partnership, FAO and the European Commission (EC) held the strategic dialogue meeting and agreed on joint priorities and deliverables for 2018-2020. The decision to intensify joint efforts comes at an important moment in time with both partners sharpening their focus in the areas of...

On the 6th September 2016, DG AGRI presented the Cork Declaration “A better life in rural areas”. The discussions organised with the stakeholders during this 2-day conference fed the final declaration in a bottom-up approach. For the moment, no real Action Plan for the implementation of the Cork Declaration has been...

The hotspots of food biodiversity often coincide with regions inhabited by indigenous peoples. Old animal breeds, plant cultivars or traditional processed specialties like cheeses, breads or cured meats survive in these areas because they form an integral part of indigenous peoples’ identities. Traditionally, food used to be strongly linked to...

Over the last few years, Europe has seen a significant increase in the number of migrants arriving at its borders. The European Commission's 2016 action plan on the integration of third-country nationals has highlighted the resources that are available from the European structural and investment funds to support the integration...

The CIHEAM Watch Letter n°38 in February 2017 on "Rural innovation 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 is resolutely prospective and rich in the presentation of various...

Croatia’s horticultural sector is beset by challenges including lack of know-how in modern production techniques, and fragmentation of production. Fruit and vegetable value chains rely largely on the country’s small-scale producers, but many of those producers lack the financing to upgrade their operations and struggle to supply processors and retailers with...

Food security and global peace go hand in hand. The EU’s proposed organic food regulation is not perfect, but it is a step towards the sustainable food system we need, write a group of Green MEPs.

Euromontana is working hard to collect signatures for the 2016 European Charter for Mountain Quality Food Products. We recently created a Facebook page about the Charter. The page contains a link to sign the Charter and will be updated regularly with information about: mountain products, the progress of the Charter, examples of the use of the mountain product...

A meeting in Nieuwpoort, Belgium on September 1st, organized by Belgian inshore fisherman Jan De Jonghe and attended by a variety of commercial fishermen from the UK, Belgium and Holland as well as staff from the Low Impact Fishers of Europe Platform [LIFE] and researchers from the Marine Institute, highlighted the...