Family farms’ support by legislative measures should be a crucial step for EU countries to ensure food security and a healthy environment in Europe. Therefore, the International conference - Increasing legislative support for family farms in the EU focuses on Family Farm Legislation and family farm policy at the EU member states’ level.

Ieva Stragytė is an organic farmer from Lithuania

Justina grew up on her family’s farm in the Ukmergė region of central Lithuania and she wanted to continue in her family’s footsteps by becoming a young farmer. Initially, she had access to land and some older equipment. However, being an ambitious young person with a lot of ideas and...

Association of private farming of the Czech Republic organized an International Conference on family farms and Common Agricultural Policy of EU. The event was held in Brno on 4 - 6th of April 2016. 10 European countries attended the conference. Herewith volume 4. Presentation of Lithuania

Traditional international agriculture exhibition “Ka pasesi… 2016” will take place at Aleksandras Stulginskis University (Akademija, Kaunas dist., Lithuania) on March 31 – April 2, 2016.

Pociūnėliai is a small town in Šiauliai County, Lithuania. In recent years its population has been decreasing as young people are leaving for the city and businesses have declined. Men typically work in the farming or forestry sector doing physical labour. The women however have very limited work opportunities. The...

The analysis of survey responses shows that young farmers have different expectations and needs, depending on the region in which they live, the agricultural sector in which they work (intensive, extensive), their level of education, their relation to the farm (owner of the farm or not) etc. This study revealed...

Aušra and Vladas Griciai family`s farm established in Kretinga district, Imbarė surroundings, Juodupėnų village. Part of the farm is certified as ecological. Currently, farmers are involved in “Landscape Program”. Major agricultural income is received from milk production. Aušra and Vladas are farming since 1993, after Lithuania regained its independence. Before...

The farm is located in Silutes district municipality, Galnės village wayside Šilutė – Vainutas, south-western part of Lithuania. During the farms territory the river Šyšale crosses and cultivable lands are bordering with Vainuto forest biosphere polygon, which is published as the protection of birds important area, so in the farm...

Daiva and Arūnas have been running their farm since 2001. Their farm is situated in Kiršoniai village, Biržai district. The farm is a certified ecological farm. Farmers became national winners of international contest of environmentally-friendly farming – WWF Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year . The farm is located near...

Knowledge exchange has been achieved by allowing people to meet in several hundred forums. Major conferences and seminars have acted as meeting points for advisors, experts and decision makers, enabling vivid discussions on all dimensions of nutrients. Small-scale farmer-to-farmer meetings have also been important in enabling more detailed discussions about...

Case studies of best practices from: Lithuania, Belarus and Russian Federation

Organic farming no longer serves a niche market in the European Union (EU). In spite of the global economic crisis, the mainstreaming of organic products has maintained its impressive trajectory: since 2008 there has been an average annual growth rate of 8%; annual turnover has risen to €20 billion; and more than 500...

The United Nationals declared 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming to highlight the importance of family farms and smallholders farmers (International Year of Family Farming - IYFF). Throughout the world family farms constitute the majority of all farms, which underlines their importance for food security. FAO promotes the...

In the world, more than 80 per cent of farms are family farms – in total more than 500 million economic and social entities. In Europe 25 million people, 172 million hectares of agricultural land and 12 million farms are involved in EU agricultural production. A vast majority of these...

The concept of “High Nature Value farming” developed in the early 1990s from a growing recognition that the conservation of biodiversity in Europe depends on the continuation of low-intensity farming systems across large areas of countryside (see Beaufoy et al., 1994; Bignal et al., 1994; Bignal & McCracken, 1996; 2000)....

Family farming is the most common operational farming model in Europe – representing 97 % of the European Union’s (EU) 12 million farms. Thus it is of great importance in the EU. It covers a diverse range of situations, including farms of all sizes. While there are obvious differences across...

12 million farms, 172 million hectares of agricultural land, 25 million people involved in agricultural production – these are some of the key data for the EU farming sector in 2010; but what about the situation of individual farms and how do things differ between Member States and as compared...

A young farmer from Lithuania talks about her funding support from the Rural Development Programme and what difference this assistance has made to her business.

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...