Europeans deserve a better agricultural and food policy

14 Pages·2015·2 MB·English

Research for
transition
Europeans deserve a better agricultural and food policy
Europeans deserve
a better agricultural Conventional agriculture has a massive problem. Knowledge is power
Never before has so much food been produced.
Yet despite this, there are more than 800 million Yet there are plenty alternatives. Organic farming
and food policy
people who are malnourished today. Hectares of is one of them. We note that the demand for and
monocultures adorn our countryside, which itself consumption of organic food is rising every year,
brings about problems like diseases and pests but the European production and supply falls short
needing intensive short term unsustainable ‘solutions’. of the demand. What is wrong?
The soil has been deteriorating after many years of Something is preventing organic farming and food
this intensive practice: now that natural fertility is so systems from scaling up/growing outside of its niche
exhausted, increasingly costly synthetic fertilisers and becoming mainstream agriculture.
prop up productivity. Meanwhile, agro-chemical
inputs – replacing functions like defence and To explore these reasons, the Greens/EFA group
nutrition provided by a healthy soil and a living agro- in the European Parliament asked the Université
ecosystem – have become big business for only a Catholique de Louvain (BE) and the Organic
few mega-companies that run the show. This “agro- Research Centre (UK) to carry out a study on how
chemical-food complex” has become entrenched as the available EU research funds are spent in the
the unsustainable status quo. At the same time, even agricultural sector. Research is a key element in
the European Commission admits biodiversity is the exploration and development of new pathways in
fading rapidly, and the effect of agriculture on climate farming systems. After a thorough search for fgures,
change can no longer be denied. it became clear that statistics are neither precise
nor comprehensive, while billions of euros are spent.
Where is this money going?
The question is: who benefts from this business
model? It is not the environment. Nor is it the farmers.
Neither is it public health. We defnitely need another
way of producing our food.
3
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4 EUROPEANS DESERVE A BETTER AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY
What are we waiting for?
The European Commission has recently paid lip service to the agro-ecosystem, destroys natural fertility and free
these many benefts of organic farming. For example, in the delivery of plant nutrition and defences from benefcial Bart Staes
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform, organic farming organisms in the wider agro-ecosystem, ii) hooks farmers
José Bové
was given its own measure instead of being a subset of the on replacements for those free services, while iii) the more
Martin Häusling
agro-environmental schemes. Furthermore, the Commission you use, the more is sterilised, the more you need to use
exempted the organic farmers from the so-called Greening and pay for replacement inputs. Instead of stimulating Rebecca Harms
obligation, normally a condition to receive the whole of the agro-chemical dependency of farmers via this “lock in”, Philippe Lamberts
CAP direct payments as they were considered “green by EU policy makers should simply chose life over death and
Bas Eickhout
defnition”. But this is too little. fund research on systems that allow natural, self-enriching
Benedek Javor
processes in vibrant and resilient agro-ecosystems to
If we really want a paradigm shift and set agriculture protect plants and ensure natural fertility and long term Maria Heubuch
on the right track for the future, we need to completely productivity and food security. Michèle Rivasi
reverse the current situation where organic farming fnds
Keith Taylor
itself in a niche - where chemical-dependent agriculture Such an approach would entail only collateral benefts, not
Peter Eriksson
is the rule and organic the exception. Organic methods damage and costs, for the environment and human health,
and sustainable agriculture have to become the dominant while offering high levels of employment, fair remuneration For the Food Working Group of the
system if we stand a chance of surviving the challenges the for farmers’ work and fair prices, animals kept in humane Greens/EFA in the European Parliament.
whole of society currently faces. conditions, and vibrant rural communities.
Why is it that traditional seed varieties or animal breeds This following executive summary shows the paradox we
adapted to the needs of the organic sector are often not are experiencing: despite the clearly good performance  The extended version of the study
available on the market? Organic breeding should be of organic farming, the funding of research in this feld is can be downloaded at http://www.
stimulated using EU research funds, instead of supporting plainly poor. Europe and its citizens ask for much better and bartstaes.be/nl-BE/artikel/publicaties/
the agro-chemical complex in its necro-technological deserve much better, and policy makers must respond to research-for-transition/26266.
agenda and its business model. This model i) sterilises these demands.
5
.1 F gnidnu fo cinagro gnimraf h c raeser
si wol htob ta EU dna lanoitan sle v el
At the EU and national levels, statistics on the fnancial
support to the different models of agriculture are neither
precise nor comprehensive. This lack of transparency
impairs any comparative analysis.
Eramus evitucex b troper gnimraf cinagro dna hcraeser eht fo y smaet y
E eht fo ac étisrevinU( etutitsnI efiL & htra eht dna )niavuoL ed euqiloht In order to assess the investment in research into organic
R cinagrO .eb.seatstrab. a aliav w no elb ,)KU( ertneC hcraese farming, data has been collected at the EU level (Cordis
database) and at a national level for four countries: France,
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The analysis of the
Research is a key element in the exploration of new pathways in CORDIS database showed a serious imbalance between
farming systems. Organic farming relies on specifc methods and agricultural biotechnologies and organic/low input farming.
a strict regulation. By design, organic farming harmonizes the The total funding for European FP5, FP6 and FP7 research
programmes amounted respectively to 14, 18 and 50 billion
environmental and productive dimensions of farming systems.
Euros. The share of research in agriculture is between 3
and 4% of this total budget. Between 1998 and 2013, the
amount spent on biotechnology increases from 20 to 70%
of the total agricultural research budget. In comparison,
funding for research into organic farming does not exceed
12%; spending was highest in FP6 and has declined during
the most recent years.
6 EUROPEANS DESERVE A BETTER AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY
FIGURE 1: Share of organic farming and biotechnologies in the agricultural research budget of FP5, FP6 and
FP7 research programmes (own calculations based on the Cordis database)
7
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FIGURE :2 E selpmax fo lanoitan h c raeser
sema rgo rp rof cinagro gnimraf
TALB E :1 S sisehtny fo noitamrofni y b rtnuoc y
FRANCE BELGIUM GERMANY THE NETHERLANDS
Gross Value added by Agriculture to GDP 1.70% 0.70% 0.90% 2.00%
Share of area in organic (2013) 3.90% 4.60% 6.40% 2.60%
Estimated spending in agricultural sciences (Mio €) 313 35 718 163
Estimated spending in organic farming (Mio €) 3.6 1.7 6.4 5.0
Share of spending for organic (%) 1.15% 4.85% 0.90% 3.06%
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8 EUROPEANS DESERVE A BETTER AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY
3. Organic farming provides better
answer to sustainability challenges
than conventional farming
Funding of organic farming research is important because Environmental issues Quality and quantity of food
organic farming represents an effcient pathway to
sustainable agriculture. Organic farming clearly performs better than conventional In terms of quality of food, results for mineral contents,
farming in the case of biodiversity, both in terms of number proteins, vitamins are either better or equivalent in organic
A comparison of organic and conventional farming for the of species and diversity of habitats and landscapes. farming depending on studies and type of production.
different dimensions of sustainability has been compiled Organic farming products are richer in healthy fatty acids
based on scientifc publications. This assessment does not The conservation of soil fertility and system stability is and phenols.
claim to be fully comprehensive in all areas but it may serve helped by higher organic matter contents and biological
to illustrate the potential of organic farming. activity in the soil of organic farms. A review paper found By design, contamination by pesticide residues, nitrates
that the median soil organic matter was 7% higher in and cadmium is lower in organic products. The difference
organic farming than in conventional farming, and this is is substantial for pesticide residues. The positive impact
directly linked with the use of organic fertilizers (manure, of the absence of synthetic pesticides in organic farming
compost and the use of fertility building/green manure is both direct and indirect. A direct benefcial effect occurs
crops) in organic farming. Organic farming also has a on the health of the consumer through the reduction of the
high erosion control potential. In top soils under organic ingestion of toxic substances such as pesticide residues or
management, the soil organic carbon concentrations and cadmium (assigned a group 1-human carcinogen by the
stocks of C per ha are higher. International Agency for Research on Cancer) and there also
is an indirect effect on the citizens by a decrease of harmful
The absence of synthetic pesticides has an obviously
substances in ground and surface water.
positive impact on ground and surface water pollution and
organic farming is the frst choice agricultural system for
The health status of animals bred in organic farming is
water reclamation areas.
better than in conventional livestock systems: less metabolic
Nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emission per ha are up disorders, a lower prevalence of lameness and fewer
to 60% lower in organic farming. However, when assessed respiratory problems in pigs. The enterprises participating
by unit of product, impacts of both organic and conventional in organic farming are more likely to comply with welfare
farming on greenhouse gas emission are very similar. legislation and animals in organic farms have more living
space. The use of chemically synthesized allopathic
9
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. ) r u o b a l d e l l i k s n u s u s r e v d e l l i k s
01 EUROPEANS DESERVE A BETTER AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY
research into organic farming will probably increase
Cross-cutting issues
the productivity through the development of new
technological and organisational practices.
In the debate between organic farming and
conventional farming, the lower level of yield in Competitiveness is often put forward in favour of
organic farming is often put forward as a drawback. maintaining conventional farming systems. This
In fact, the productivity of food systems has strategy is inappropriate for two reasons. First,
exceeded the needs of the world population since competitiveness is exclusively defned in economic
the 1960s. If more than 800 million people are still terms and doesn’t include other relevant dimensions
hungry it is a matter of poverty and inequity and not such as environmental and social impact. Second,
a production related issue. A better balance between competitiveness is by defnition a distinction between
environmental and social dimensions (including winners and losers and the comparative advantages
human health) vs. quantity of food is possible and of European agriculture in a competition between
would favour organic farming. Moreover, as the industrial farming systems are limited due to the high
productivity of conventional farming systems is cost of land and labour, high level of urbanisation, In
reaching a limit despite huge investment in research contrast, it appears promising for European farms
and the intensive use of fossil energy and non- to establish themselves as leaders in biological and
renewable inputs, the potential of the productivity social diversity with pioneering farming systems
of organic farming has still to be explored. More based on organic and agroecological principles.
11