Join us for the Oxford Real Farming Conference
The Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) has developed over the last 11 years to become the unofficial gathering of the real food and farming movement in the UK. In its 12th year, the conference will be online and global for the first time. It will be one of the biggest events of its kind, attracting thousands of delegates from across the world.
The conference is for farmers, growers, food producers, activists, policymakers, researchers and everyone else who supports agroecological (including organic and regenerative) food and farming systems. It’s the place to find practical advice and learn more from the world’s leading practitioners.
In addition to a broad range of speakers from the organic world and our likeminded movements, IFOAM - Organics International will also be represented at this prestigious event. Keep reading to find out in which sessions we will participate.
Thursday - 13:00 - 14:00 GMT
Agroecology Across Three Continents: Showcasing Good Policy Practices
Governments are beginning to recognise the urgent need to transform our food systems. This has been made even more pressing by the current health and economic crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic. Currently, there are good but rather scattered examples of governments around the world that have been developing conducive and innovative policies aimed at implementing agroecological and resilient principles.
Join three leading policymakers from three different countries (India, Denmark and Uganda) as they explain the good policy practices they are helping to put in place, which make the long-term transformation of the food and agricultural systems of their countries possible. The speakers will explore the key entry points and drivers of transformational policies including the multifaceted crisis, climate change, health and environmental pressures.
Speakers
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Paul holmbeck – Director - Holmbeck Eco-Consult
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Alex Lwakuba – Commissioner for the Crop Production department - Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda.
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Prof. Rajeshwar Singh Chandel – Executive director - State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU), Government of Himachal Pradesh
Chair
- Gábor Figeczky - Head of Global Policy – IFOAM - Organics International
Friday - 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
Agroecological, Regenerative and Organic: Complementary or Competing Approaches to Food System Transformation?
It is now widely accepted that fundamental changes are needed across the food system to address the climate emergency, food insecurity, tackle an escalating global public health crisis and ensure resilient livelihoods for food and farm workers. Over recent decades, agroecology has risen to meet the challenge, offering a holistic framework to address current food systems’ environmental, social and economic failings. At the same time, the steady growth of the organic market has made a strong impact on the global development of standards and regulatory requirements. Additional – and occasionally competing – approaches, such as regenerative agriculture, ecological organic agriculture and others have also increasingly been taken up in different regions of the world.
This session, organised by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) will discuss the contributions of agroecology and other approaches to the development of sustainable food systems. It will particularly consider what could be common principles across these various approaches to sustainable food systems development, and recognise the dangers of ‘greenwashing’ and ‘co-optation’ of terms in the ongoing global debates on the future of agriculture and food.
Speakers
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Mamadou Goita – Executive Director -Institute for Research and Promotion of Alternatives in Development (IRPAD)
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Louise Luttikholt – Executive Director - IFOAM - Organics International
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Dr Kris Nichols – Research director - MyLand Company LLC
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Michel Pimbert – Director of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University.
Chair
- Emilie Frison – Former director of Biodiversity International and a current member of IPES-FOOD
Wednesday - 13:00 - 14:00 GMT
Exploring the Tools that Will Deliver Lasting Change: Labels, Verification, Organic Certification: Is There a Best Option?
What does it take to deliver meaningful impact on our food production systems? Why is certification important and what other tools are there that will help facilitate better and best practices? We consider a range of approaches that aim to deliver lasting and positive change.
We know that agricultural practices are pivotal when it comes to mitigating the climate, nature and health crises we face, but debate rages about which ones are having meaningful impact. So how can we support farmers to develop farming systems that are a force for good, for all?
Speakers
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Louise Luttikholt - Executive Director - IFOAM - Organics International
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Sarah Compson – International Development Manager - Soil Association
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Harry Farnsworth – Projects Lead on the sustainable agriculture team – Control Union UK
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Joshua Wickerham – Membership and Engagement Manager - ISEAL
Chair
- Liz Bowles – Associate Director for farming and Land Use – Soil Association
The ORFC Global 2021 will address climate resilience-related topics and the road to COP26, the importance of healthy soils, resisting corporate take-overs of seed and food systems, the value of indigenous knowledge, redressing racial inequity in our food system, the future of UK farming, biodiversity loss and its impact on our health and much more.
As we face the multiple global threats of climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, poverty, inequality and pandemics, coming together as a global movement of people who care about real food and farming has probably never been more important.
Book ORFC Global 2021 tickets here: https://orfc.org.uk/book-tickets/
Follow the event's latest news on Twitter and Facebook #ORFCGlobal or visit their website: orfc.org.uk