African Continent Faces the ArmyWorm

Whenever there is news reported about Africa in the west it tends to be bad news. I therefore don’t really relish writing this article. I’m following the trend. However, what amazes me is that apart from an article in the FT and in The Independent the mainstream media [I accept that the Ugandan Independent isn’t ‘mainstream’ inContinueContinue reading “African Continent Faces the ArmyWorm”

Question Time last night: ‘Britain after Brexit’

I am a regular watcher of the BBC’s Question Time, although I should probably stay away for the sake of my blood pressure. Yesterday evening a special ‘Britain after Brexit’ episode was broadcast, during which an audience which was divided as the country was at the referendum (roughly 52:48) posed questions to a panel composed ofContinueContinue reading “Question Time last night: ‘Britain after Brexit’”

Brexit: An opportunity to change how we support food, farming and nature – Guest Post by Miles King

Caption: Should a future farm support scheme subsidise bioenergy crops? ©Miles King It’s finally 2017, and we can say goodbye to 2016 – what a year that was. Many may celebrate a new dawn breaking for Britain (or England anyway), while others will be very worried about future prospects for their families, businesses and ourContinueContinue reading “Brexit: An opportunity to change how we support food, farming and nature – Guest Post by Miles King”

Brexit and the OECD challenge to subsidies

Every year the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) releases an ‘Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report’ which looks at and assesses the various agricultural policies of the 35 OECD nations around the world, as well as 15 ‘selected partner economies’. The 2016 version was released back in June, but BBC Farming Today broughtContinueContinue reading “Brexit and the OECD challenge to subsidies”

What do we want from a British Food, Farming, Environment (and rural communities) Policy?

In a recent article in the Huffington Post Ross Murray, President of the Country Land and Business Association, outlined some brief thoughts regarding a future British policy for ‘Food, Farming and the Environment’. He called on Andrea Leadsom and Defra not to ‘lose momentum’ and to ‘make an early commitment’ to establish a new Food,ContinueContinue reading “What do we want from a British Food, Farming, Environment (and rural communities) Policy?”