Priority sector of the new Country Strategy for Armenia is agriculture. The choice of this sector was primarily guided by the objectives of poverty reduction and socially and environmentally sustainable development. With the end of the Soviet Union, Armenian agriculture gradually became less significant, losing important export markets and government...

Priority sectors of the new Country Strategy for Georgia are agriculture and forestry, which will receive about 70% of available funds. The selection of these sectors was mainly guided by the goal of poverty reduction und of socially and ecologically sustainable development. Despite remarkable economic progress in recent years, about...

Since 1992, successive CAP reforms have led to the decoupling from production of mainstream support payments to farmers (Pillar 1). Instead of paying farmers for a quantity of production, payments are attached to the land that farmers use. To determine if a piece of land is eligible for CAP payments,...

This report presents a summary and the presentations of the expert workshop "Developments in agricultural commodity markets: a special focus on Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan", organised by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), in close cooperation with the European Commission's DG...

The Lithuanian Goat Breeders Association, headed by the farmer Andžela Dalia Ėmužytė, has already prepared more than one project under the action area “National Rural Network” of the 2007–2013 Lithuanian Rural Development Programme measure “Technical Assistance”. Goat milk cheeses, produced at the farm of the farmer A.D. Ėmužytė, have become...

Hani Rice Terraces are located in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, which is in the southeast part of Yunnan Province. People of various races, with Hani being the main minority group, has built this spectacular agriculture and nature wonders. The magnificent Hani Terrace System is a masterpiece of...

Pastoral landscapes are farmed in many different ways, reflecting the variety of pasture and livestock types (breeds of cattle, sheep and goats) in Europe. Some farming systems make use mainly of grasslands that may be sown or semi-natural vegetation. Others exploit pastures of shrubs, for example heather moorland is a...

El Proyecto El Clima Cambia, Cambia Tú También es una iniciativa impulsada por la oficina regional para América del Sur de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN) y la Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA), proyecto que busca integrar actividades de documentación y testimonios sobre adaptación...

Climate change, increasing natural disasters, food and energy crises, population growth, water scarcity and desertification, loss of biodiversity, degradation of ecosystems, migration, and growth of cities – the planet is currently facing a multitude of challenges. Mountain regions and their inhabitants are disproportionally affected, but also offer significant opportunities for...

In the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) region organic agriculture could play a catalyst role in green economy transformation by re-vitalizing the farm and food sector and creating employment that provides better returns on per unit of labor input all along the value chain. It could increase income...

The continuity of farming in mountain areas in Europe is at severe risk and its future faces manifold uncertainties. Mountain farms are immersed in a long-term process of reorganization. Farm diversification plays a prominent role in this process of adjustment and reallocation. However, little work has been done explicitly on...

我在云南迪庆藏族自治州德钦县云岭乡红坡村 作调查的时候，正赶上村里种植玉米和青稞，又 逢当地政府支持村民种植葡萄。村里除了在外打 工的，老弱妇孺都在田地农忙。红坡村每家平均 每家有7亩地，本村地处山区，土地大部分都在山 上，而且每家分配到的田块也不一定靠近农舍， 有的甚至有好几里的路程，这便无形中加重了农 民的劳动强度。

In this brochure seven farmers are explaining how they protect our environment with their agriculture and preserve it for future generations. The Austrian farmers have already been working for centuries with the natural bases of life water, soil, air and biodiversity. By means of their near-natural management they have succeeded...

Noto Peninsula has a rich history and culture that dates back over 2100 years. Though life on the peninsula was initially typical of a hunting and gathering society, according to archeological surveys, the roots of today‘s agricultural system can be traced to the Nara Era over 1300 years ago.  Over...

Mountain farming in Europe is based mainly on ruminant livestock and utilization of locally produced forage resources by grazing and hay. Farmland extends from mountains in the eastern Mediterranean to the Atlantic coast, with major areas at the highest elevations in central Europe, thus encompassing wide variation in geology, soil,...

Iceland indicated that its agricultural policy and administration is tailor-made to the domestic circumstances, scope and nature of agriculture. Iceland has therefore indicated that it does not intend to make changes in policy, administration or its legislation until the Accession Treaty has been accepted in a referendum in Iceland. Iceland...

The concept of HNV farmland is a novelty for the South Eastern Europe (SEE) countries. But even in the absence of detailed studies it is clear that the generally very extensive character of agriculture in these countries suggests that there are large areas of HNV farmland in a variety of...

For millennia communities of farmers, herders, fishers and forest people have developed complex, diverse, and locally adapted agricultural systems. These systems have been managed with time-tested, ingenious combinations of techniques and practices that have usually led to community food security, and the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity. Agricultural heritage...

In response to the global trends that undermine family agriculture and traditional agricultural systems, in 2002, during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, Johannesburg, South Africa), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations launched a Global Partnership Initiative on conservation and adaptive management of “Globally Important...

The Western Balkan countries are all in a process of accession to the European Union. Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro have the status of candidate countries. Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99 are potential candidate countries, with the prospect of joining the EU when they meet the...