The latest draft of the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy (F2F), obtained by EURACTIV, specifies that mandatory targets for the reduction of use and risk of synthetic chemical pesticides will be established using the existing Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 (HRI1), whose suitability was contested in the past. 

This report presents the results of the EIP-AGRI Focus Group on 'Protecting fruit production from frost damage'. In the European Union, the fruit and vegetable sector is particularly affected by frost and, despite global warming, the risk of frost damage in the growing season may increase. This report reflects the...

Greek olive oil producers are turning out to more sustainable production methods, whereas climate change cuts off previous year’s production in -30%. 

The EIP-AGRI workshop 'Opportunities for farm diversification in the circular bio-economy' was organised to highlight of the number of co-operation mechanisms and business models that have been developed to bring forward circular bio-economy projects and enterprises across the EU. The workshop took place in February in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was...

This study reviews the state of play of on-going EU environmental and climate legislation and pinpoints key challenges for the next five years. Challenges arise from the plans released by the president-elect, such as a new European Green Deal, the completion of work started in the previous term (e.g. the...

French farmers, beekeepers and agricultural students join forces to promote biodiversity For the past three years, the Biodiversité project in the French region of Normandy has been working on biodiversity in agriculture. Farmers, beekeepers and students have joined forces to study the potential of increasing biodiversity on agricultural parcels by planting...

While the next CAP reform is still in discussion at the Council, and the European Parliament has not yet taken a final position, Samuel Féret explains the rationale of the new concept of CAP Strategic Plans (CSP) for a future CAP as proposed by the European Commission. This is intended...

There is a pressing need for overarching digital strategies to unlock the potential of digitisation in the agricultural sector.Digital technologies can help European farmers increase their profitability and reduce their environmental impact, however they are more effective when supported by public policy. In the northern part of Germany, the region of...

Who grows the food we eat? Who sows the seeds, tends the soil, picks the fruits and harvests the carrots? At ARC, we want to put faces to our food. Agroecology is not one fixed way of doing agriculture, rather it is a philosophy, set of practices, and way of engaging...

This article discusses the economic dimensions of agroecological farming systems in Europe. It firstly theoretically elaborates the reasons why, and under what conditions, agroecological farming systems have the potential to produce higher incomes than farms that follow the conventional logic. This theoretical exposition is then followed by a presentation of...

In the Western French region “les Pays de la Loire”, an idea emerged about a decade ago in the minds of some environmentalists. Faced with the dreadful, global, current loss of biodiversity, especially in agricultural landscapes – which accounts for 70% of the regional land – these passionate naturalists strived...

The African workforce will grow by 800 million people over the next 30 years. Generating sufficient jobs and incomes to meet their needs is one of the biggest political and economic challenges of our time. This report proposes strategies and policies, harnessing cooperation between Africa and Europe, to enable the...

Agroecology is much talked about, and practiced in many regions, but how does it relate to the word of policy-making? In some countries such as France, agroecology forms the basis of emerging agri-food policy – albeit in a contested and sometimes contradictory way.  Since the time of ecologically progressive Agriculture Minister...

This report (prepared under The BOND Project) seeks to present the most relevant best legal practices in the particular areas, discovered with cooperation and assistance from the partners, in the hope that they will be useful to facilitate collective actions, and to ensure access to sustainable markets for the small...

Agroecology Europe (AEEU) is an association of members that want to exchange knowledge and experiences on agroecology and to support the transition toward agroecological practices and policies. Together with local farmers, universities, social movement organisations and non-governmental organisations, the second Agroecology Europe Forum was organised to support exchange, reflection and bottom-up contributions. It took...

The latest IPCC report sets the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, 2070 at the latest. The sustainable intensification of agricultural production, in a land sparing logic, is most often considered as a necessary step to achieve this. In contrast, this Study questions the potential contribution of a more...

This open access book provides a panoramic view of the evolution of Spanish agriculture from 1900 to the present, offering a more diverse picture to the complex and multidimensional reality of agrarian production. With a clear transdisciplinary ambition, the book applies an original and innovative theoretical and methodological tool, termed Agrarian Social...

This course for EU fisheries monitoring centres’ operators on vessel tracking systems is a training manuscript. It can be used by EU Member States competent authorities and the European Commission for the training of their staff. The objective of this course is to provide an overview of the wide variety...

The monthl newsletter of LIFE

At a European policy level, the ‘EU Action for Smart Villages’ was officially launched in the European Parliament during the Spring of 2017 by the EU Commissioners for Agriculture (Phil Hogan), Regional Development (Corina Creţu) and Mobility (Violeta Bulc). It has received major support from the EU Parliament which promoted...