Domestic and donor-driven development agendas for African agriculture are spurring smallholder family farming as a catalyst for food security and poverty reduction. Family farms are also the backbone of agriculture in the European Union, although the process of concentration has gone further than in Africa. European agricultural policy reforms now...

All businesses need to innovate if they are to thrive, and family farms are no exception. By thinking ahead and developing new approaches, farmers can increase output, develop new and improved products, diversify and tap into new income streams, and remain environmentally sustainable. Innovative farms are more likely to weather...

After 5 years spent working in the French agricultural sector, Dobrin Kalinov gained enough experience and confidence to start his own farm in Bulgaria. In 2009, he established a 34 ha apricot orchard. Between 2009 and 2013, with the support under Measure 112, the farm expanded and acquired farm machinery....

Marina Dicheva established her farm with 20 dairy sheep and 2 female goats in Alekovo in the region of Silistra in 2002. The farm began to focus solely on goat breeds in 2005 due to excellent conditions and the fact that, while goat breeding is a local tradition, few people...

Food is fundamental to life and the majority of the food that we eat comes from Europe’s rural areas. Food priorities for the European Union (EU) include safeguarding food supplies and providing European citizens with quality, value and a diversity of food which is produced sustainably3 . The Common Agricultural...

Agriculture is a strategic sector of the economy and has deep traditions in Bulgaria. In 2009 the gross value added generated by the sector of agriculture was estimated at BGN 1,506 million and farming jobs totaled nearly 90,000, excluding the employment in food industry and other sectors of light industry....

Sofia, Bulgaria - Visitors to the first Terra Madre Balkans event, which opened in Sofia today, were greeted with specialty cheeses, artisan breads, jam and honey. The food fair for small-scale farmers and producers, devised by the organization Slow Food and supported by WWF, kicked off in the Botanical Garden...

During the last decades, droughts have become more frequent in the Mediterranean, West Asia and North African countries, and have had negative socio-economic impacts which are frequently linked to a high exploitation of available water resources. The Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change states that extreme...

Structural changes in agriculture have been going on in many countries all over the world during the last two decades. Developments were forced by radical reforms of countries concerned resulting in to establishing new farm structure. Large scale farm systems were broken up and tens of millions of small farms...

Permanent pastures are therein defined as utilized agricultural area used permanently for 5 or more years through cultivation (sowing) of grass fodder crops or through natural regeneration and is not included in the farm crop rotation. This area can be used for either grazing or mowing. All grass species that...

This report is produced as part of collaboration between the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) and WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme (WWFDCP). Both organisations recognise the importance of certain farming systems for nature conservation. Between 2006 and 2008 a project was executed aiming at finding out at a local...

The objective of this study, commissioned by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and SDRR, is to analyse the status of and future needs for information and communication systems of private and government organizations in the national agricultural research system and its relevant partners with respect to agro-ecological and organic...

The objective of this study, commissioned by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and SDRR, is to analyse the status of and future needs for information and communication systems of private and government organizations in the national agricultural research system and its relevant partners with respect to agro-ecological and organic...

One of the characteristics of organic farming is the conservation of domestic, endogenous livestock breeds and strains. For a successful development of the organic pig sector in Southern Europe, the animals must be well adapted domestic breeds, as they are exposed to extreme weather conditions in the free range systems...

Bulgaria began the transformation of its agricultural sector early in the reform process. The chosen path of land reform was radical and aimed at restoring the status quo enjoyed half a century ago. The outcome of this slow and complicated process was a very fragmented structure of land ownership and...

Subsistence agriculture is a phenomenon that is presently encountered not only in developing countries, but also in the Central and Eastern European transition countries (CEECs). The various land reforms implemented in Eastern Europe have led to differences in the land tenure and farming systems and have influenced the access to...

Present-day Central and Eastern European agriculture is characterized by a high incidence of small-scale farmers who are not producing for the market. This is partly the result of land reform procedures practiced in these countries. Post-communist land reforms predominantly restituted land to pre-communist owners, resulting in an extremely fragmented ownership...