This afternoon I will be giving a talk titled "World Food Security, Pastoralism and Governance: Reflections on global food security, governance and participation in the wake of the 2007-2008 food...

Tenure reflects the power structure in society. Because land and other natural resources are central to social and cultural identity and economic wealth, tenure arrangements in a society develop in...

[caption id="attachment_252" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Maize Crop in a GMO-free zone , Basque Country, France"][/caption] A coalition of European social movements, farmers organisations, and NGOs demand to put access to quality affordable food and fair market prices for farmers at core the of EU agriculture and food policy. Proposals from the European Commission to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013 show signs of fairer distribution of subsidies, according to the coalition. [1]
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="266" caption="Iron rich red soil near Paint Pots mineral springs in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada."][/caption] Message from Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, CityUniversity, London: Gradually, one of the oldest food policy concerns is resurfacing globally – the issue of soil health.  At times, I have wondered if Soil Scientists are themselves becoming an endangered species, as here in Europe, (and in the UK), there has been remarkable complacency for a long time. Over the last decade, however, some welcome urgency has crept back in.
From the newsletter of the Working Group on Agrarian Reform and Territory, of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty - IPC: How to participate in the Online Consultation of Civil Society Organizations´ Proposals to the FAO Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Land and Natural Resources Tenure Following the process for the elaboration of the civil society document set out by the International Facilitating Team at the beginning of 2010, the drafting committee has prepared the first draft for wide consultation. The document has been drafted based on the outcomes on the four regional consultations held in Kuala Lumpur, Brasilia, Rome and Nyèlèni and on the inputs collected through an online questionnaire. The reports of these four CSO consultations can be found elsewhere on the website.

  [caption id="" align="alignright" width="110" caption="Still a fan of the SRRTF"][/caption] Yesterday I uploaded a post called" Why the "UN body fails to back "land grabs" code of conduct" (apologies for the...

[caption id="attachment_7" align="alignleft" width="222" caption="Heritage maize for seed      (Pays Basque, 2008)"][/caption] I spend a great deal of time thinking and writing about global agri-food governance and in an attempt to coordinate, synthesise and share these thoughts, I have started this blog. I will be posting regularly on issues linked to the regulation and governance of our food systems. The majority of the posts will be linked to my PhD research but I will also reflect on issues brought up in the courses I am teaching and other activities I participate in.