The EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food has prepared some of the field for sowing, but there is still a long way to go for a fair and sustainable harvest
On Feb. 19, the European Commission released its vision for the future of the EU’s agri-food system to 2040 and the work plan to achieve it. The 20+ page document orients action around four pillars: farmers’ incomes, competitiveness and trade, producing food within planetary boundaries, and food and community. It also responds to a visioning exercise undertaken by agri-food chain stakeholders last year. While the Commission is taking up some of the recommendations from stakeholders, key elements are vague, missing or heading in the wrong direction.
The Vision:
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Establishes a workstream on livestock to develop a tech heavy toolkit to address the sector’s challenges.
Stakeholders had recommended a strategy and transition pathways for animal farming. The workstream may get there, but a clearer mandate would have helped. Technology alone will not deliver the needed GHG emission reductions from the livestock sector and risks locking-in the current broken industrialized system.
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Commits to reforming the farm subsidy system to better target farmers who need support.
Missing is any reference to establishing an Agri-food Just Transition Fund, a key recommendation from stakeholders and an essential element to ensure farmers are supported in the transition away from industrial livestock production to smaller grazing herds.
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Acknowledges the positive role agriculture can play in contributing to climate action, though its focus on carbon farming as a silver bullet is misplaced.
Carbon farming will not save the planet and will end in disappointment for farmers. The nature of the carbon farming certification scheme adds unnecessary complexity to farmers’ reporting requirements – there are simpler solutions that can be achieved through farm subsidy reform.
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Promises to review rules on unfair trading practices to address systematic selling below the cost of production.
If farmers cannot sell their products at decent prices, they will have little opportunity to prioritize a transition as they struggle to keep farming. The Commission’s measures are heading in the right direction but fall short of what is needed. IATP has signed on to a position paper addressing unfair trading practices in the EU.
