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 competitive environment of dairy cattle production systems is often linked to increased pressure on animal welfare due to various stress factors. It is argued that there is trade-off between production and animal welfare, which includes animal health. However, this is not always the case. The EIP-AGRI Focus Group on...

The new virtual centre, bringing together experts and knowledge from different sources inside and outside the European Commission, will help to tackle the root causes of food insecurity around the world.

LIFE finds the European Commission’s ambitious proposal to amend the Fisheries Control Regulation excessively prescriptive and ill-suited to crack the nutty problems of small-scale fisheries catch reporting, monitoring and enforcement.

The EU Agricultural Outlook conference has now become the key annual gathering of European stakeholders willing to engage and discuss the future of agriculture in Europe and the challenges which lie ahead. The fourth edition of the conference will be opened by Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner, Phil Hogan. Discussion on day...

Schola Campesina is a training and participatory research centre seeking to strengthen producers’ organizations in their struggle for food sovereignty through knowledge valorization and sharing. Based on the Nyéléni International Forum for Agroecology (2015), and on the principles of Dialogo de saberes, Schola Campesina seeks to boost the sharing of...

On 31 May, ICES have released their annual catch advice for the main stocks in the Baltic Sea, which will guide decision-makers in negotiations of fishing opportunities for 2019. LIFE takes a first look at ICES recommendations, on the basis of initial views and comments provided by our Members. We...

Permaculture is a holistic approach to agriculture that provides for human needs—high-quality food, fiber, fuel, medicine and building materials—while enhancing the ecosystems and communities from which these derive; it offers a set of ethics and principles and a means of integrating social and ecological processes in a way that is...

The monthly newsletter of the Low Impact Fishers of Europe, comming with a lot of interesting news, events and technical informations, regarding Small Scale Fisheries in European Union and not only.

Tourism and cultural heritage are two strong vectors of local development, which was explained at length during a session of the European Week of Cities and Regions 2018. Indeed, the Mediterranean basin is the 1st touristic destination in the world, with an increase of 8% in international arrivals in 2017 (EC,...

The common agricultural policy (CAP) has been supporting European farmers for over 50 years, but its reach goes far beyond the 28 member states. Many other countries across the globe look at the CAP as a possible model for their own agricultural sector, while in Europe the focus is now...

The monthly newsletter of the Low Impact Fishers of Europe

In 2009, livestock farmer Clément Guillaud from the Isère region in France saw his meat prices drop. Knowing he could no longer live on his current income, he knew he had to rethink his supply chain in an innovative way. He wanted to increase profit and reduce costs without compromising...

The aim of this study is to estimate the influence of climate factors on the technical efficiency of Hungarian arable farms. The technical efficiency of farms is affected by several factors such as the technology used, the relative factor abundance, the institutional reforms with the input and output market environment,...

At the request of the RUMRA (Rural, Mountainous and Remote Areas) intergroup, the European Parliament adopted on 3rd October 2018 a resolution on addressing the specific needs of rural, mountainous and remote areas. The motion calls for coordination of EU policies to ensure the development of rural territories in order to...

Agronomic practices and management decisions can have a significant impact on the type and number of weeds on a farm. Understanding this relationship can help organic producers manage weeds through avoidance, and various cultural management practices. The most important steps of non-chemical weed management are prevention, diagnosis, and a number of...

The main objective of this study is to compare the efficiencies of organic and conventional farms in Poland. As shown by the conducted analysis, acting in compliance with the essential production principles, organic farms practiced extensive farming which resulted in reduced efficiency of productive inputs. The efficiency of land and...

From 25 to 27 September 2018, nearly 200 mountain stakeholders from all over Europe gathered in Vatra Dornei, Romania, to participate in the European Mountain Convention on “Cultural Heritage as an Engine for Creativity, Innovation and Socioeconomic Development of Mountain areas”, organised jointly by Euromontana and several Romanian organisations, including the Mountain Areas Agency and...

Social protection plays a crucial role in accelerating progress in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and rural poverty, with the potential to transform the lives of rural women and men by improving their well-being and livelihoods. Still, evidence shows that social protection is lacking for the majority of the food insecure...

With the release, by the Ministry, of the common logo, Italian mountain producers have now all the normative references for the use of the optional quality term “Mountain product”.