Almost a decade after the first Congress, IFOAM EU is celebrating its 10th European Organic Congress in the Netherlands this April 2016. The theme of this year’s Congress is transforming food and farming through organics. We want to look at how organic and agro-ecological approaches can really lead future agri-food...

The EU has played an active role throughout the process and is committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs within the EU and in development cooperation with partner countries. The Agenda reflects many of the EU's priorities for sustainable development, as set out in our...

While global changes affect each single agricultural area, we wonder to what extent Geographical Indications can sustain the typicity of terroir products? To tackle this question, we investigated the factors influencing the quality of Corsican clementine under a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by using a multi-level approach, from the farmer's...

Job creation is a challenge everywhere in Europe, including in fisheries areas, whether coastal or inland. Nevertheless, many fisheries areas have specific opportunities they can exploit, within but also outside of traditional fishing activities, and often linked to the attractiveness of the areas concerned. A challenge, however, is to broaden...

The agri-food sector is at the crossroads between huge opportunities and massive pressure. Every single decision needs to be informed by a wide range of factors, where citizen expectations, breakthrough technologies and consumption patterns in developed but also in developing countries are only the tip of the iceberg.  To cope with...

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,...