About: sustainable agriculture
Europe’s heat and drought crop losses tripled in 50 years: study
The severity of crop losses driven by heat waves and drought have tripled in the last fifty years in Europe, according to a study that highlights the vulnerability of food systems to climate change.
Decarbonising Food – Making the case for Green Fertilizers
The fertilizer industry has identified the most promising technologies for making green fertilizers. The challenge is to make the business case for decarbonised products. This can be achieved by driving down the cost and addressing technical challenges on the supply...
How American agriculture can work with the EU on food sustainability
We must build more resilient, sustainable global food systems that can feed an increasingly hungry world, or there will be dire consequences, warn Kip Tom and Ronald J. Gidwitz.
Feed additives ‘key tool’ in achieving farming sustainability goals, say stakeholders
Feed additives hold enormous potential for reducing the environmental impact of the farming sector, but are not getting the attention they deserve according to farming sector and feed industry stakeholders, who are calling for more focus on the role of feed additives in contributing to sustainability goals.
Women must be ‘at the heart of sustainability conversation’ in farming, says MEP
Women farmers must be at the forefront of the sustainable farming discussion, but they say there are still barriers in the way and a lack of support for their entry into the profession.
The European Food System: The transition towards sustainability and climate mitigation
Our society faces challenges more urgent than ever. The food sector is striving to transform the way that we produce, manage and consume food
Beekeeping: Way to boost biodiversity and halt rural decline in Spain
More and more city dwellers in Spain are looking for ecological and sustainable alternatives to city life, to reconnect with nature and escape from polluted urban environments and unhealthy crowded spaces, particularly in times of the coronavirus.
Agroecology in Poland: A thorny path for farmers
You can read this article in Croatian, Spanish, Polish, Bulgarian, and Romanian. The aim of agroecology, according to the declaration of the International Forum for Agroecology, is to find ways to recover the food system destroyed by industrial agriculture. But...
Agrifood Brief: Brexit crunch time – no time to chew the fat
Welcome to EURACTIV's AgriFood Brief, your weekly update on all things Agriculture & Food in the EU.
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.