After a wave of protests by angry farmers across the country, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has unveiled an unprecedented 650-million-euro aid package to help the industry out of its worst crisis in thirty years.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the demands of farmers’ unions and agricultural employers in a speech on Tuesday, promising to protect the industry through one billion euros in government loans, 650 million euros in aid, and tax cuts.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy addresses farmers in a cheese-producing village on Tuesday to outline new emergency aid measures for the crisis-ridden agricultural sector. French farmers’ unions are demanding reduced production costs.
In this edition: Concern grows over the likelihood of Ivory Coast ever holding promised elections; South Africa's Zuma under pressure to tackle growing poverty; and foreign investors plunder Ethiopia's farming land.
In this Edition: angry French farmers take to the streets of Paris; the Elysee Palace tries a new charm offensive; police continue their hunt for suspected killer Jean-Pierre Treiber; and Lucky Luke travels to the big screen.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel announced Monday that she would release 280 million euros (418 million dollars) in aid for Europe's ailing dairy farmers.
French farmers briefly blocked the Champs Elysées on Friday amid a nationwide wave of protests against falling prices. The main farmers' union has urged the government to provide an aid package and press the European Commission for better regulation.
Milk producers across Europe have been hit hard by falling prices. A group of French dairy farmers tell FRANCE 24’s Nicolas Ransom about their everyday struggle to make ends meet.
The European Union's agriculture commissioner has warned that pictures of price protests in which farmers could be seen dumping huge amounts of milk into fields have had a hugely damaging effect on the EU's reputation in the developing world.
President Robert Mugabe's past land reforms drove more than 4,000 farmers off their land and destroyed a once prosperous sector. One year after a historic power-sharing deal was signed, Zimbabwe's agriculture is still in the doldrums.
