ORFC 2026 8 – 9 Jan
Land grabbing isn’t just a phenomenon that takes place in the Global South; it is very much a reality in Europe, too. Land prices are growing, companies from outside the agricultural sector are investing in land, and energy production as well as carbon offsetting schemes are competing with food production. Young people and new entrants struggle to access land, while farmers approaching retirement are structurally obliged to shut up shop. Frustratingly, the UK government remains committed to investing in the capitalist global land agenda, but other countries are joining with civil society to call for a new multilateral International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD), to take place soon and to be organised by the FAO. It is time to (re-)open the discussion of what agrarian reform could also mean in the UK and European contexts. The session aims to look into successful examples of agrarian reform programmes and to develop ideas and demands for the run-up to a new ICARRD.