Agriculture

Europe’s agriculture depends on fossil-based fertilisers—and that makes it vulnerable. While CBAM dominates the debate, wars, markets and political inaction drive prices. How can the EU finally build a more resilient and sovereign food system?

Spain is Europe’s vegetable garden. The country is an example of how export-oriented industrial cultivation methods lead to water shortages and pollution, as well as accelerate the loss of species. To overcome such crises, a sustainable reorganisation of the food system is necessary.

Agriculture is the single largest industrial sector when it comes to consuming water: 72 percent of the world’s freshwater consumption is used to produce food. Ensuring a secure supply despite the threats posed by the changing climate will take political will.

Agroecology is far more than a set of sustainable agricultural practices. It puts peasants and indigenous voices at the centre. It seeks to preserve biocultural diversity and strengthen resilience while challenging existing power structures in the food system. This dossier is a collaborative effort of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung offices and our partner organisations worldwide to highlight the diversity of agroecological initiatives within our global network. From community-led digital innovations to public policy strategies, it explores how agroecology redefines food systems and promotes people’s agency.

As the climate crisis intensifies around the world, severe storms and flooding are becoming more frequent. Healthy soils can help buffer the effects of extreme weather. For that reason, soil protection is more important than ever. Yet, it is still neglected.

Phosphorus is bioessential, meaning that all living organisms require it. Yet, despite its presence in soils, it is a relatively rare element on Earth and is not always found in a form that plants can absorb. The fertiliser industry produces easily soluble phosphorus but depends on a finite, non-substitutable resource: phosphate rock.

Land has been heralded as a crisis-proof investment around the world. However, these deals often make money for the wealthy few, while pushing local people off their land and into poverty. Countries like Germany, Singapore, and the United States are complicit in such land grabs.

The phenomenon of large companies and investors buying up vast tracts of arable land in the Global South has long been seen as a problem. In Germany, too, this kind of land grabbing is on the rise, with small and medium-sized farms pushed out. A reorientation that prioritises the common good is needed.

Equitable access to land and fertile soil is fundamental to realising human rights, such as the right to food. Although numerous United Nations declarations on land rights have been ratified by national governments, deadly land conflicts persist throughout the world.

Secure land access is essential for long-term soil protection because it enables land users to implement practices that enhance soil health and maintain its productivity over time. However, in many African countries, women’s land rights remain precarious, creating significant barriers to investing in sustainable soil management.

Protection measures for climate, water, and biodiversity have been enshrined in EU law – in some cases, for decades. But a comprehensive legal framework for soil protection is still lacking. Previous attempts to create one have been torpedoed, while most existing policies are toothless.

Agroecology is a response to an industrial model of agriculture that exploits people and damages soils. In Brazil, agroecology is making significant breakthroughs in social and environmental terms. But one thing is already clear: government policy is needed to promote agroecology and confront the agroindustrial model.

Modern farming techniques were introduced to India during the Green Revolution of the 1960s to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. However, the overuse of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, alongside the cultivation in monocultures, severely damaged soil health. In response, many farmers are moving back to alternative soil management practices. Political support for this transition is growing, but requires more flame to ignite change.

The Sahara Desert is expanding, thereby threatening millions of people’s lives and livelihoods. While many large-scale initiatives have been launched to combat desertification, most lack secure funding. Bottom-up techniques, implemented by local farmers, show how Indigenous knowledge can drive restoration. 

Vertical indoor farming enables crops to grow all year round. It requires less space and promises to reduce water, fertiliser, and pesticide use, thus protecting both climate and soil. But this must be part of a larger transformation of food systems.

The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy was designed to ‘accelerate the transition to a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system’. It sets a range of targets to be met by 2030, underpinned by a mixture of new or revised laws, and non-legislative initiatives. As the current European Commission nears the end of its mandate, this article proposes how the next European Commission, from 2024–2029, should carry forward the goals of the Farm to Fork Strategy, and actions to meet its targets, especially as the EU is currently stalling many of its aspects in light of recent farmer protests.

While thousands of farmers have been protesting for weeks on the streets across Europe, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – the Paris Office in collaboration with the Thessaloniki Office – organised on 12 February 2024 a timely online discussion on the causes and possible solutions to the agricultural crisis. Representatives of farmers and researchers from France, Germany and Greece outlined the situation in their countries, illustrated their demands and contributed with suggestions.

With the European elections just around the corner and the subsequent appointment of a new European Commission, the next phase of the European transition to climate neutrality is about to begin. This article touches upon some key topics and challenges that lie ahead in the near future to ensure an effective implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD).

This article reflects on the potential links between the CAP and the proposal for a European Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (SFS). This integration is challenging, but possible. Constructive interdisciplinary dialogue and pro-active cooperation at multiple-level of governance should not be replaced by time wasting, biased strategic dialogues, as is now proposed. The upcoming European elections and future of food and farming cannot inherit this logic of postponing.

Are subsidies provided to farmers in the EU generating deforestation in Brazil? Or the decline of pastoral communities in Sahel? In this article, we shed light on the CAP’s implications beyond the EU, focusing on its influence on the global trade of soya and milk products and examining its implications for local populations.