Urgenci, the international network of Local Solidarity Partnerships for Agroecology between producers and consumers (LSPA) and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As part of the 3-year mutual commitment, the Mediterranean network, including members...

Between November 22 - 25, 2017 Lebanon hosted the 2nd Learning Journey on LSPA: Local Solidarity Partnerships for Agro-ecology between producers and consumers. Around 20 facilitators from 11 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria) participated and shared their experiences through meetings and site...

How to strengthen producers-consumers relationships ? This activity is one of the numerous exercises to be tried out during Urgenci's learning journeys. The latest of these journeys took place in Turkey 4-8 October, thanks to the support from the Civil Society Team of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Some tasks...

Ecologistas en Acción finally published the e-book : Compartiendo la cosecha: Agricultura Apoyada por la Comunidad, una guía ciudadana, a Spanish version of Sharing the Harvest, by Elizabeth Henderson y Robyn Van En. In this Spanish translation of the thoroughly revised and expanded classic, Elizabeth Henderson provides us with valuable...

The two women in this story are among 8,000 Afghan milk farmers, mostly women, who were introduced to the business through the dairy cooperative movement. Founded by FAO in 2002, the movement is expanding steadily and is now based on thriving co-operative-managed enterprises, thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation...

Mountain people learn, live, love and unite for life – to awaken and search for the treasure within the mountain. By combining our wisdom, we can co-exist and develop to our fullest potential, working towards holistic dignity and sustainability. This initiative involves 1,144 families, mainly concentrated in Mae Win, Mae...

A trilogy of books has been designed as a sequel to the highly-acclaimed publication "Voices from the Forest: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming" (RFF Press, 2007) that brought scientific attention to indigenous innovations in improved fallow management. A third and final volume, edited by Malcolm F. Cairns and with the continued assistance...

In this video we travel to West Stara Planina, Bulgaria, in the south-eastern corner of Europe. We will learn how High Nature Value grasslands are preserved in this country by enthusiastic farmers like Pavlin Antonov, who apply rotational mob grazing to ensure the best production and environmental value in his...

Filmed on Achill Island in September 2015 this video highlights the Natura 2000 habitats Machair Grassland and Upland Heath, both present on the Island. Supporting the type of traditional extensive farming that is practiced here is essential for maintaining these habitats. Taking a more targeted approach to agri-environment schemes can...

SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas) is a four-year project (2016-2020) funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. It aims to advance understanding of social innovation and innovative governance in agriculture, forestry and rural development – and how to boost them – in marginalised rural areas across Europe...

From 3 to 5 October 2016, around 260 mountain actors (researchers, farmers, environmentalists, elected representatives from local and regional authorities, representatives of chambers of commerce and development adeclaration finale bragancagencies) met in Bragança, Portugal during the X European Mountain Convention organised by Euromontana.

Their specific potentials and opportunities of mountain areas need to be considered as much as their challenges. Mountain areas are too diverse to elaborate an integrated European strategy. However, a framework for development strategies in mountain areas can be developed, taking into account the specific challenges and importance of mountain...

Pacific Island countries and territories already face a range of development challenges due to their specific geographic and socio-economic characteristics, and their generally high exposure to natural hazards. The projected changes to the climate of the Pacific Island region over the coming decades present another challenging dimension that the region...

Mountain areas have difficult climatic and environmental conditions, but mountain people are used to adapting to these. Thanks to their great experience of innovation and adaptation, they have already started to tackle the challenge of climate change. This X European Mountain Convention will present a state-of-the-art of the situation in...

This short film is showing a bit from the daily life on a summer mountain goat farm I Western Norway. It shows a modern and mechanized summer mountain farm with mechanized milking. The milk is preceded and on the farm. The chesse is sold from the farm and delivered to...

A group of coffee farmers in Turrialba, Costa Rica, is successfully exploring diversification options with horticultural food crops. This is being done in collaboration with two vegetable seed banks that allow family farmers to use varieties freely under the multilateral system of FAO´s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for...

Globalisation, climate change, population growth and urbanisation are all having an impact on the world’s agriculture. Through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which accounts for the biggest share of the EU budget, the EU is driving developments in this strategic sector. Latest figures show that farming employs over 20 million...

Nestled at the foot of the Vladeasa Mountains lies Sancraiu, a commune composed of five villages in Transylvania. One of the villages is Alunisu that provides an exquisite example of Romania’s subsistent peasantry. Here, Lars Veraart and Robyn Bors-Veraart set up their farm called Provision, the Transylvania School of Self Sufficient Living, which not only...

Since 1990, in 25 European countries the populations of a group of common farmland birds have been reduced by roughly 25% and in some cases as much as 50%. This decrease in bird numbers along with the wider decrease in biodiversity in the EU is largely related to loss of...

The forest not only supplies the raw material for paper and solid wood products, it also has a great potential for renewable energy production. As the EU designs its energy and climate policy for post-2020, it is essential to consider this remarkable asset. Without a congruent EU bioenergy policy with the...