International Agricultural Policy

Like all industries, agriculture is subject to economies of scale. But larger farms have a smaller workforce and can be a bigger burden on the environment if they employ industrial methods, compared to the low-input systems that have traditionally dominated rural landscapes. It is time to shift policies towards preserving jobs and communities, being kinder on the environment, and encouraging young people to take up the farming profession. 

The Common Agricultural Policy is one of the EU’s oldest policies. Despite its extensive funds and regular reforms every seven years, it is poorly attuned to the needs of Europe’s hugely diverse farm sector. Goals to minimize and adapt to climate change, protect the environment and promote rural development are poorly served.  

All Soil Atlas graphs are published under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 3.0). You can download them here as PNG files.

Chile is the only country in the world in which water resources and water management are privatized. Our documentary “Secos” shows the results and its disastrous consequences.

The reclamation of seed as a common good has begun. Following the concept of open source, new approaches evolve that result in the cultivation of a large number of species and varieties.

We all come into contact with it, especially when shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables, hardly anyone is aware of it: many hours of ‘invisible’ labor – often by migrant workers from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe toiling in agriculture in the Mediterranean region.

At the moment regulations for the trade with genetic material help to safeguard the rights of providers of genetic resources. This could change with the use of digital gene sequences.

Factory-style livestock production is a critical driver of agricultural industrialization. Its remorseless expansion is contributing to climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human-rights violations – all to satisfy Western societies’ unhealthy appetite for cheap meat.

All Meat Atlas graphs are published under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 3.0). You can download them here as PDF files.