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...

DistriKempen, a group of five farmers from the Kempen region (Belgium) were searching for ways to deal with the transport of their fresh products to customers in the region. In 2013 they found the perfect people: Dorien Goris, and her brother Geert. Dorien: “Assisted by the Flemish Innovation Support Centre...

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...

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development presented its latest projections for crop, milk and meat markets in the EU for the next ten years. Leading experts from international organisations also presented their views. The conference concluded with a panel discussion involving representatives from OECD, FAO, USDA and the European...

L’agriculture familiale est la forme d’agriculture majoritaire sur la planète. Sur 570millions d’exploitations agricoles dans le monde, 500millions sont des exploitations familiales et assurent plus de la moitié de la production agricole mondiale!

The Flemish Knowledge and Research Network for Organic Food and Farming (FORK) was created in 2009 by Landwijzer, the organic training centre, BioForum, which represents the Flemish organic food and farming sector, the Coordination Centre for Applied Research and Extension on Organic Agriculture (CCBT) and the Network for Organic Food...

Several projects have been set up in the Walloon Region of Belgium to use public procurement to support family farming. Report of a seminar that brought together representatives from these projects and representatives of Southern farmers networks to discuss lessons learned. Looks at problems and challenges from the farmers perspective...