CAN Europe has written to Commissioner Hansen and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on how the upcoming Vision for Agriculture and Food must show how to move towards a comprehensive just agroecological food system transition while constructively contributing to achieving ambitious climate targets in a manner that is fair to farmers, rural communities, consumers and the public at large.
The agricultural and food sector in the EU is going through significant challenges in the face of its contributions as well as its exposure to rising levels of climate change and extreme weather events, soil degradation, water scarcity, and biodiversity collapse, while there is a need to increase biodiversity protection and nature restoration. Likewise, millions of farmers are confronted with rising production costs and often low farmgate prices, bureaucracy, and exploitation from deep-set incumbents in agriculture and food systems. Cost increases for food in combination with quality of food and sustainability considerations are among the major concerns in the cost of living challenges millions of consumers face. In this regard, CAN Europe also acknowledges the important achievements of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture process.
Transitioning to agroecology, coupled with measures to support farmers and consumers, can alleviate many of these concerns and can show that our agri-food systems can also be a critical part of the solution to climate mitigation and adaptation. Agroecology integrates ecological principles into agricultural systems, promoting biodiversity, improving soil health, reducing peatland emissions, restoring nature, and reducing the need for polluting chemical inputs (and the cost for farmers), and needs to be promoted in a more landscape approach beyond the production at the farm level.
READ: Letter with CAN Europe’s views on the Vision for Agriculture and Food
