How Africa’s new Free Trade Area will turbocharge the continent’s agriculture industry

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Landry Signé, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution, Chido Munyati, Head of Regional Agenda, Africa, World Economic Forum Agriculture accounts for roughly one-third of the African continent’s GDP, provides a livelihood for 50% of the population […]

Antitrust: Commission invites comments on draft Guidelines for sustainability agreements in agriculture

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission today launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft proposal for Guidelines on how to design sustainability agreements in the field of agriculture (‘Guidelines’) using the novel exclusion from EU competition rules introduced during the recent […]

What is regenerative agriculture and how can it help us get to net-zero food systems? 3 industry leaders explain

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Tania Strauss, Head, Strategy and Global Projects, Food Systems Initiative, World Economic Forum, Pooja Chhabria, Digital Editor, World Economic Forum Food systems are linked to many global challenges – from hunger to deforestation to being the world’s second-largest emitter […]

€186 million to promote high quality and sustainable EU agri-food products

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission will allocate €185.9 million in 2023 to fund promotion activities for sustainable and high quality EU agri-food products in the EU and worldwide. The 2023 promotion policy work programme adopted today by the Commission contributes to the realisation of the political […]

Why the Agricultural Sector Roadmap to 1.5°C is encouraging

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Petra Tanos, Head, Strategic Partnerships, Tropical Forest Alliance, Jack Hurd, Executive Director, Tropical Forest Alliance, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum COP27 is described as the implementation COP. This means following up on pledges made in […]

European Green Deal: EU agrees to increase carbon removals through land use, forestry and agriculture

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission welcomes the provisional deal on the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) regulation reached late last night with the European Parliament and Council to increase the EU’s target for net carbon removals by natural sinks to 310 million tonnes […]

How agribusiness can tackle the food crisis – an expert explains

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Lukas Bester, Freelance Researcher and Writer – World Economic Forum, Sustainable Development Consultant in Emerging Markets, Linda Lacina, Digital Editor, World Economic Forum The World Food Programme has dubbed 2022 a ‘year of unprecedented hunger.’ Hunger levels, always […]

This Indian state is overhauling its agriculture strategy — and innovation is at the forefront

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Ajit Kesari, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Jaskiran Warrik, Project Lead, Food Innovation Hub, World Economic Forum As the world population continues to grow and food prices rise, farming […]

Millions of India’s smallholder farmers could soon access carbon credits — that’s good for them and the planet

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Dhruv Sawhney, COO and Business Head, nurture.farm Farming sustains half of India’s 1.4 billion population but is also a major contributor of greenhouse gases and pollution. Tech-fuelled initiatives are helping to sink and offset India’s sizeable carbon in […]

Is the answer to land-based agriculture found in the ocean?

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Kathryn Saducas, Freelance Writer, Caroline Slootweg, Co-Founder, CCO/CMO, Kelp Blue Population growth is outpacing traditional farming’s capacity and putting pressure on ocean and food ecosystems Bio-active compounds in seaweed are proven to promote plant growth and yields, yet […]

Common Agricultural Policy reform gets final approval from MEPs

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Tuesday, Parliament gave the green light to the new EU Farm Policy. This reformed version aims to be greener, fairer, more flexible and transparent. During the negotiations on the legislative reform package, MEPs insisted that strengthening biodiversity and adhering to the EU’s environmental […]

MEPs to discuss possible EU budget fraud with Slovakian minister of Agriculture

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Potential large-scale fraud involving a Slovakian paying agency will be discussed on Monday at 16:45 with Slovakian Minister of Agriculture Samuel Vlčan. The debate in the Budgetary Control Committee will focus on following up on the investigation conducted by the EU Anti-Fraud office (OLAF) […]

Agriculture: Commission adopts exceptional measures to support the wine, fruit and vegetable sectors

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The support measures for the wine sector adopted today include increasing support for risk management tools such as harvest insurance and mutual funds, and extending the flexibility measures already in place until 15 October 2022. For the fruit and vegetable sector, support to producer […]

What is agroecology – and how can it help us fight climate change?

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Andrea Willige, Senior Writer, Formative Content Climate change can have severe knock-on effects for food security. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme. Agroecology, with its chemicals-free and traditionally-led principles, could make […]

Political agreement on new Common Agricultural Policy: fairer, greener, more flexible

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The provisional political agreement reached today by the European Parliament and Council on the new Common Agricultural Policy introduces a fairer, greener, more animal friendly and flexible CAP. Higher environmental and climate ambitions, aligned with Green Deal objectives, are to be implemented from January […]

The European Union and the United States conclude negotiations on agricultural quotas agreement

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Union and the United States have concluded negotiations to adjust the European Union’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) agricultural quotas, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This is the culmination of two years of negotiations in the WTO framework to divide these […]

AI strawberries and blockchain chicken: how digital agriculture could rescue global food security

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Winston Ma Wenyan, Chairman of Advisory Board, Open Mineral • An AI-assisted team recently beat traditional farmers in a Chinese strawberry-growing competition. • China plans to overhaul its smallholder farming culture with extensive digitalization in many areas. • […]

Commission welcomes the political agreement on the transitional rules for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the Commission welcomed the political agreement between the European Parliament and EU Member States in the Council on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules for the transitional period of 2021-2022. These rules are based on the principle of continuity of the current CAP […]

Water reuse: Commission welcomes the provisional agreement on minimum requirements for water reuse in agriculture

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The new rules, proposed by the Commission in May 2018, will set out harmonised minimum water quality requirements for the safe reuse of treated urban wastewaters in agricultural irrigation. Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said: “With this provisional agreement, we […]

These Dutch tomatoes can teach the world about sustainable agriculture

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Kate Whiting, Senior Writer, Formative Content To feed 10 billion people by 2050 at the current level of food production efficiency, we’d have to clear most of the world’s forests. The Netherlands is a leader in efficient and […]

Here’s how we can use agriculture to fight climate change

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Ben Riensche, Owner and Manager, Blue Diamond Farming Company, Iowa, USA & Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj (Farmers Forum India) 2019 will go down in history as the most difficult planting season for North American farmers, with […]

Governments should renew efforts to reform support to agriculture

This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Governments worldwide provide more than USD 500 billion in often ineffective and trade distorting support to farmers each year, and efforts to reform these policies have largely stalled, according to a new OECD report. Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2019 shows that farm policies in the 53 […]

US and China in painstaking efforts to conclude trade talks

China and the United States are working hard to achieve a trade deal, badly needed for both the two largest economies of the globe as well as for the rest of the world. During the past months of negotiations between the two giants, progress or confrontation in the dealings have been strongly – positively or […]

Argentina’s agro-food sector is growing remarkably, but agriculture policies are not keeping pace

This article is brought to you in association with OECD. The Argentinian agro-food sector has grown remarkably over the past thirty years, driven by innovation, an abundance of young, well-educated farmers and strong international prices. While Argentina’s use of export taxes has raised much-needed revenue for the federal government, the policy has reduced gross farm revenues […]

MEPs back plans to promote water reuse for agricultural irrigation

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Plans to counter water scarcity by facilitating the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation were endorsed by Parliament on Tuesday. The new law defines minimum quality standards for reclaimed water to be used for agricultural irrigation. It also sets out obligations for production, […]

Where does our food come from? Here’s why we need to know

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Saswati Bora, Head of Food Systems Innovation, World Economic Forum & Joshua Katz, Partner, Global Agriculture Practice, McKinsey & Company Despite the central role that food plays for humanity, we as consumers tend to know very little about it: […]

MEPs back plans to promote water reuse for agricultural irrigation

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Plans to counter water scarcity by facilitating the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation were backed by the Environment Committee on Tuesday. The legislation defines minimum quality standards for reclaimed water to be used for agricultural irrigation. It also sets out obligations for […]

Pesticides: MEPs propose blueprint to improve EU approval procedure

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Plans to boost trust in the EU approval procedure by making it more transparent and accountable were put forward by the special committee on pesticides.   Among many proposals, MEPs agreed on Thursday that the public should be granted access to the studies used […]

The China-US trade deal will be signed on time; the path is set

The China-US trade truce agreed upon by the US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has just prolonged the uncertainties haunting all and every world market. Stock exchanges on Monday went up and then on Tuesday fell on the news. The respite was struck last Saturday between the two leaders, in the […]

Fertilisers/cadmium: Parliament and Council negotiators reach provisional deal

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. New rules easing access to the EU single market for fertilisers made from organic or recycled materials and setting limits for cadmium were agreed on Tuesday. Internal Market Committee rapporteur, Mihai Ţurcanu (EPP, RO), said: “I am pleased that today we finally reached a […]

How our food system is eating away at nature, and our future

This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.  Author:  Joao Campari Global food practice leader , WWF International As you eat your next meal, ask yourself if you really know what you’re eating – not just the ingredients or where they came from, but what has […]

China is sending science students to live with rural farmers – and crop yields are skyrocketing

This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Kate Whiting, Senior Writer, Formative Content Living on a farm and growing crops might not seem like the typical life of a university student, but, in China, science students have been doing just that and helping to boost […]

The US-Mexico trade deal a threat for others, Trump to single out China, Europe

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between US, Mexico and Canada is reborn. It was discarded and denounced by the American President Donald Trump since the first days of his campaign to conquer the White House, and now it returns almost undamaged, just under another name. Last Monday, after more than one year of […]