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Radical land use change coupled with enhanced carbon sequestration in productive agricultural lands has the potential to mitigate climate change, according to a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. However, if urban sprawl and the conversion from grassland and forest into cropland continue, agricultural soils could turn from a carbon sink to a […]

A climate tax on meat and dairy products could lead to lower emissions and save half a million lives a year, new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change has found. According to scientists at Oxford University, beef would have to be 40% more expensive globally to account for the greenhouse gas emissions caused

Small-scale farmers are more successful in feeding the world than industrial food systems. The reason is that peasant systems are more innovative, diverse and flexible, says Pat Mooney, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and Executive Director of ETC Group, a civil society organization headquartered in Canada. On October 25, Mooney took part in an

The area devoted to organic farming in the European Union has increased by more than one fifth, from 9.2 million hectares in 2010 to 11.1 million hectares in 2015. According to data released by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, 6.2% of the total utilised agricultural area is now certified as organic or currently under conversion.

Global biodiversity is continuing to decline at an alarming rate, warns a new report released on October 24 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London. The Living Planet Report 2016, which monitors trends in wildlife abundance of over 14,000 vertebrate populations, shows that animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970

Peasant seeds systems and agricultural biodiversity are under threat as a result of increasing corporate pressure, according to the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2016 published by Bread for the World, FIAN International and ICCO Cooperation on October 13 in Rome. The report, which is supported by 24 civil society organizations, draws attention to

The current trade and investment framework blocks the development of agroecology and food sovereignty by promoting and cementing the agribusiness model, says a new report released by Friends of the Earth International. The report finds that also the agreements currently under negotiation, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

A rapid transformations of food and farming systems is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change, according to a new report released on Monday. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warns that up to 122 million more people worldwide, most of them small-scale farmers, could be pushed into extreme poverty

We need a radical transformation of agriculture and industrial food systems to deal with future challenges, says Hans Herren, winner of the World Food Prize and Co-chair of the “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development” (IAASTD). In an interview published in the Foundation on Future Farming’s new brochure “Agriculture at a

“Business as usual is not an option” – this was the wake-up call of the “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development” (IAASTD) when first published in 2009. Seven years later, this message is still valid. Meanwhile, the global discussion on the future of food and farming has come a long way.