Sustainable Agriculture

Food system experts launch project to transform global food trade rules

MINNEAPOLIS—The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is pleased to announce the launch of an ambitious three-year project that will advance urgently needed changes to the global trading system to meet the mounting challenges in global food distribution.

Still Closed Out

More progress needed to connect farmers with federal conservation programs. There has been some positive development for conservation agriculture policy in the U.S. since 2021, but USDA still rejects more than three in four farmer applications to CSP. 

Talking COP27 Episode 3: Time for true solutions

In this episode, hear from IATP Executive Director Sophia Murphy and Director of IATP Europe Shefali Sharma, both of whom will be traveling to Egypt for this year's COP, on the role of civil society groups at COP and the false solutions for climate and agriculture that IATP is working to discredit.

Talking COP27 Episode 1: Two paths for climate and agriculture

Our industrialized food and farming systems are both driving the climate crisis and threatened by it. How did we get here? This episode introduces listeners to that struggle and its climate justice implications in the lead-up to the UNFCCC's 27th annual global climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, COP27.

Congress finally acts on climate, next steps will decide impact

The $362 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), expected to be approved this week by the House of Representatives, makes major new investments in a renewable energy transition and boosts climate-focused farm c

Payments for Pollution: How federal conservation programs can better benefit farmers and the environment

Important new United Nations report calls for redirection of public finance for agriculture

This week, three United Nations agencies released an important report examining public subsidies for agriculture in 88 countries around the world. According to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), the report is timely and important.

Closed out: How U.S. farmers are denied access to conservation programs

According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), between 2010 and 2020, just 31% of farmers who applied to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and only 42% of farmers who applied to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) were awarded contracts. Overall, EQIP turned down 946,459 contracts and CSP denied 146,425 contracts, at least partially for lack of funds.

African faith leaders call on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to drop African Green Revolution

The following article was originally published by Food Tank on August 4, 2021. Read the article on Food Tank here. 

There could be billions of dollars coming for conservation: What does that mean for rural communities?

Congress and the Biden administration are working on a sweeping infrastructure package known as the American Jobs Plan. This package is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix what’s broken in the United States, create good-paying jobs, combat the climate crisis and invest in rural places. In order to be truly transformative for farm country, specific investments need to be made.