Press Release following Copa and Cogeca's meeting during which our members have agreed on the common position on the future of food and farming

Reflections from Copa and Cogeca Working Party on Fruit and Vegetables on the future of the community aid scheme for the producer organizations in the sector  

A meeting in Nieuwpoort, Belgium on September 1st, organized by Belgian inshore fisherman Jan De Jonghe and attended by a variety of commercial fishermen from the UK, Belgium and Holland as well as staff from the Low Impact Fishers of Europe Platform [LIFE] and researchers from the Marine Institute, highlighted the...

The yearly review of Copa Cogeca Secretariat work for 2017. You can scroll through the document and check the various topics that interest you. For all the main position papers, events etc we have included links to various documents and websites.  

Low growth, volatile energy prices, environmental concerns, rising expectations from consumers – these are some of the complex challenges the crop production industry is facing today, along with diminishing production profit margins for farmers. To grow the food Europe and the world needs, crop production systems need innovative solutions to...

Waterford Institute of Technology’s Telecommunications, Software and Systems Group (TSSG) with their SFI CONNECT partners are holding a workshop with major leaders in policy, industry and academia to explore and discuss “Europe’s Opportunity in Digital Agriculture”. Speaking on the day will be EU Agricultural & Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan...

  Farmers in Koutiala, a district in Southern Mali grow cereals to feed their families and keep cows for milk and as a form of savings. There, all the arable land is currently under cultivation. During the four months of the rainy season, farmers prioritise the cultivation of cereals over fodder...

A one-day ENRD seminar to look at the practical opportunities for promoting the Green Economy through the Rural Development Programmes. The event is designed for all those involved in the implementation of the Rural Development Programmes from EU, national, regional and local levels. The aim is to share experiences, provide...

The Seminar is part of the ENRD work on ‘Smart and Competitive Rural Areas’ where the main objective is to ‘To maximise the impact that RDPs have on supporting farms and rural firms in accessing emerging markets’. The main focus for the activity has been on cooperation and investments which increase...

A collection of short examples of initiatives/projects related to new entrants into farming (mostly small scale)

Nearly 61% of EU young farmers consider the availability of land for purchase and 57% the availability of land for rent as the most difficult challenges they face, often due to issues such as land ownership laws, inheritance rules and land prices, according to a new external report published by...

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms, e.g. fish, and hydroponics is growing plants in a soilless medium. Aquaponics couples both systems. The nutrient-rich water from the fish unit is used as fertiliser for the hydroponically grown crops, therefore significantly reducing the sewage of the fish component. However, larger aquaponic systems...

Urban agriculture is a hidden champion. It has been neglected for decades by both, urban and agricultural policies. City planners treated the agricultural land as potential building ground, agricultural policies focussed on the rural areas. But due to worldwide challenges as urbanisation, food security and the need for a sustainable...

Though still associated with bucolic imagery, farmers confront a steep challenge: produce 60% more food for an additional 2.3 billion people by 2050 while using scarce natural resources more efficiently and adapting to climate change. Luckily  ICT is here to help: sensor-based, data-intensive ‘smart’ farming will potentially add $10b per...

This year’s Forum for the Future of Agriculture will be the first to take place since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by world leaders in September 2015 and FFA2016 will look at what this means for agriculture and the environment in Europe and around the world. Now that...

The plenary session of the event FOOD 2030 will take place on 13 October with the participation of high level officials, industry, entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, and civil society organisations.

After centuries of deforestation and degradation, during the last 200 years Europe's forests have been recovering to cover some 40 per cent of the EU today. They are currently getting growing attention as a provider of wood for the bioeconomy and for energy generation. But they offer many more services...

Organised by the European Commission, the European Development Days (EDD) bring the development community together each year to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. For its tenth anniversary, EDD 2016 will focus on the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable...

Fête de la pomme: activités: Conférence: Comment produire sans pesticide? Promenade dans les vergers Marché du terroir: 80 artisans et producteurs régionaux Pressage artisanal: apportez vos pommes et repartez avec votre jus! Concours de la meilleure tarte aux pommes Marche de la Pomme de 5 et 10 kms Etc.

Several European markets are characterized by oversupply and low farmer prices, with society and policy makers discussing sustainability, environment, the relation between food and health and ethical topics, such as animal welfare and food waste. In addition, current value chains are under pressure and new structures are upcoming. These developments...