Oxford Real Farming Conference

We are working with partners around the world to host a groundbreaking and radical ‘real’ farming conference online.

Our seven-day event will give farmers, food producers, researchers, policy-makers, NGOs and all those who support a better food and farming system the chance to come together as a movement, exchange ideas, learn from each other and perhaps form new alliances across six continents.  It will also give us the chance to plan the best way for farmers to have their voices heard at the climate ministers’ and heads of state gathering, COP 26, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow in November 2021. You can read the guiding principles for ORFC Global 2021 here.

We won’t be able to offer you the usual merriment of the Oxford Town Hall and other venues, but a global online conference presents some incredible new opportunities, such as taking virtual tours of agroecological farms thousands of miles away, witnessing an extraordinary diversity of farming practices first-hand and hearing from inspirational key-note speakers from around the world. There will also be opportunities for people to meet up and discuss issues and practices in more depth, as well as attend online workshops.

Over the next few months, we will be working with partners to develop a programme that addresses many of the issues of interest to ORFC delegates. These include innovations in agroecological farm practice, trade and food justice, food sovereignty, farm practice as it affects climate change and biodiversity, animal welfare, land and the commons, gender and farming, racial inequity in the food system, traditional knowledge, knowledge sharing and communications.

General tickets will go on sale in October and will be limited, as we have a maximum capacity we can reach with our online platforms.  However, as we did last year, we are offering advance supporter tickets for those who would like to secure their ticket and help us fund both bursary tickets and free tickets to all farmers in majority world countries. These tickets start at £50.00 and rise to £500.00 and are available here. Those buying supporter tickets will be listed on the ORFC website.

We believe that ORFC Global 2021 could be a unique opportunity to come together as an international movement to tell our stories, learn from each other and strengthen alliances that will help bring about the changes so urgently needed for a thriving future for farming.

We look forward to gathering with you in 2021!