About: sustainable agriculture
Every drop counts: Exploring innovative solutions for Europe’s drought problem
A third consecutive year of drought shows that water scarcity is an increasingly frequent and widespread phenomenon in the EU, and one which holds enormous implications for the agricultural sector. EURACTIV spoke with Netafim, a specialist irrigation company, about the innovative solutions on offer to cope with this.
Food security is no longer an issue in the EU, says Commissioner
Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius has cast doubt on the long-standing primacy of food security over environmental aspects in the current EU food system, suggesting that traditional concerns might give way to issues like climate change, sustainability, or biodiversity.
Fighting fire with fire: pest control by playing nature at its own game
Biological pesticides are rapidly gaining attention as a sustainable and viable environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides. However, they are currently hampered by maladapted regulation.
Collaborative initiative aims to improve sustainability of EU dairy farming
Eight agricultural sector leaders have announced Farming for Generations, a global collaboration to support dairy farmers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices that preserve and renew our planet’s resources, respect animal welfare and ensure the long-term economic viability of farms for the next generation.
EU-wide approach to due diligence needed to regulate cacao sector, manufacturers and NGOs say
Some of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers have called on the EU to “strengthen human rights and environmental due diligence requirements of companies in global cocoa supply chains”
Climate change will dramatically devalue farmland in southern Europe, EU agency reveals
According to the EU Environment Agency, climate change could turn the entire EU agribusiness upside down, as crop productivity in the Mediterranean countries is expected to drop while northern and western regions may experience more suitable conditions for agriculture intensification.
Crunch time for factory farming in Europe
On 2 April, the European Parliament’s agriculture committee will have its say on the next seven years of the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP). Will MEPs choose family farms over factory farms?
Citizens are fed up with industrial agriculture
Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was a big issue at this year's Green Week in Berlin. With all the billions of euros available, the agro-ecological transition is more than possible, especially if subsidies to agribusiness and factory farms were stopped, write Harriet Bradley and Trees Robijns.
Scientists call for radical change of diet to transform global food system
The global food system needs urgent reform, less meat consumption and more legumes, as three billion people worldwide are malnourished and food production is exceeding planetary boundaries, scientists have warned in a new report.
Land degradation threatens wellbeing of two-fifths of humanity, major report warns
Land degradation caused by human activities undermines the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, costs more than 10% of annual global GDP in lost ecosystem services and endangers food security, warn a hundred experts from 45 countries in a three-year assessment report published yesterday (26 March).
Development through agriculture, the farmer’s way
Belgian farmer Remy Schiffeleers founded the association "Farmers Without Borders" 30 years ago, inviting young farmers from Benin, Senegal, Mali come to Belgium and learn how to produce goat cheese.
The hidden truth about migration: A looming farm crisis back home
Mass migration has become a major political challenge in Europe. While the media documents the perilous journeys that migrants undertake, the hardships and hopes of the rural areas from which many originate receive less attention, meaning the root causes of migration persist, writes Claudia Sadoff. VideoPromoted content
European biodiesel: the challenges of the RED II
The Commission proposal to revise the Renewable Energy Directive is not only lacking ambition, it is also a challenge to the entire biofuel chain, from farmers to industry.
Denmark disputes ‘highly unfair’ air pollution limits on agriculture
Copenhagen voted against an EU decision to endorse an amendment to the Gothenburg Protocol on transboundary air pollution, saying it is being unfairly penalised for having taken early action to reduce ammonia emissions from its agriculture sector.
EU rural areas must enter digital era, says Hogan
The future of EU’s rural development depends on digital technologies, which are essential to fill the existing gap with urban areas, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan has said.
Biostimulants take centre stage in EU push for green fertilisers
The review of the European Union's Fertilisers Regulation will promote innovative products such as biostimulants, in an effort to help agriculture take the turn of the circular economy.
Potocnik: Farmers and consumers ‘equally responsible’ for agricultural transformation
Every food producer should help make agriculture sustainable, Janez Potočnik told EURACTIV.com.
UN chief: Food chain shows peoples’ fate ‘interdependent’
Humankind needs to take a more collaborative approach to agriculture in order to sustain its future nutrition needs, while at the same time minimising environmental harm to the planet, global leaders and luminaries have warned.
Agriculture holds key to UN Sustainable Development Goals
Agriculture will play a crucial role in addressing the planet’s future needs – whether on food production, health or the preservation of the environment. But transforming the dominant agricultural model could be the greatest challenge of all.
CAP and animal welfare: Simply incompatible
Livestock production has been at the centre of the intensification in agriculture brought by Europe's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), writes Olga Kikou. These policies have put farmers under pressure, and created conditions for overproduction, she says.
EU emissions limits for agricultural gases face uncertain future
SPECIAL REPORT / Efforts to cap agricultural emissions harmful to both the environment and human health face fierce opposition and tough negotiations before they can finally become EU law.
CAP could be called in for ‘better regulation’ scrutiny
SPECIAL REPORT: EXCLUSIVE / Environmental campaigners plan to force changes in the reformed Common Agricultural Policy by using the European Commission’s 'better regulation' procedures to call in the laws for renewed scrutiny.
San Jeronimo and Edegem are proud of their compost project
SPECIAL REPORT / The partnership between the Belgian town of Edegem, and the Peruvian municipality of San Jeronimo has been so successful that many other localities in the Latin American country come to visit and study the project that composts organic waste and uses it for agriculture.