Voices from the farm
Posted on February, 26 2013
Making rural development work for farmers and the environment
This booklet showcases the work of farmers from across Europe who make the Common Agricultural Policy’s Rural Development programme work for their farm businesses and for the environment. From the Erickson farm in Sweden who use state of the art techniques to measure soil nutrient requirements to the 85 hectare Cismas ecological farm in Romania, Rural Development funding has been key to their success.
The rural development policy for the period 2007 to 2013 comprises of three themes (known as "thematic axes"). These are:
- improving the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sector;
- improving the environment and the countryside;
- improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification of the rural economy.
CUTS TO CAP 30/10/12
CAP total
Final: 362.8 billion euros
2007-2013 MFF: 404 billion euros
Final compared to 2007-2013 MFF: -10.2%
CAP direct payments
Final: 277.9 billion euros
2007-2013 MFF: 307.8 billion euros
Final compared to 2007-2013 MFF: -9.7%
CAP rural development
Final: 84.9 billion euros
2007-2013 MFF: 96.2 billions
Final compared to 2007-2013 MFF: -11.7%
As we can see from the figures above, cuts made to the targeted and more environmentally sensitive rural development program, 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 are much more severe than those made to the untargeted direct payments program.
Voices from the farm: making rural development work for farmers and the environment
© Istockphoto / David Winters
Voices from the farm: making rural development work for farmers and the environment
© Istockphoto / David Winters