Public procurement in faculties and making firms pay for the ‘hidden prices’ of standard merchandise are wanted to stability the discrepancy between the rise in organically farmed land with the lower in natural meals gross sales, Eric Gall, deputy director of EU natural farming organisation IFOAM, advised Euractiv.
In response to the annual report by the Analysis Institute of Natural Agriculture (FiBL), offered on the Biofach – the largest honest of the sector – in Germany, the quantity of land farmed organically within the EU in 2022 elevated by 5.1%, whereas the sale of natural meals decreased by 2.8% in the identical 12 months.
Whereas the rise within the EU’s natural space is optimistic, demand may stand in the way in which of the EU’s plan to succeed in 25% of agricultural land beneath natural manufacturing by 2030. If the EU natural market desires to fulfill the targets set out within the European Fee’s flagship ‘Farm to Fork’ meals coverage technique, the market “must develop at a quicker fee”, the report notes.
Reacting to the report, Gall mentioned there’s a hole between demand and manufacturing as a result of “it takes just a few years to regulate the manufacturing”. He additionally identified that, after years of “double-digit development”, the natural market contracted in 2022 on account of inflation pushing up the value of natural merchandise.
Gall added that there have been “two lacking items” within the European Fee’s technique for natural farming.
First, the long-delayed and eventually pushed-back legislation on Sustainable Meals Methods, which, in line with him, ought to embrace a goal for a share of natural merchandise in public procurement.
The second lacking piece, he mentioned, was the introduction of a “true price accounting” system that might calculate not solely the direct but in addition the hidden prices of the meals trade – such because the affect on the setting during which an organization operates – and make companies pay for them.
“If all these detrimental externalities have been included within the value of merchandise, standard merchandise can be dearer than natural merchandise,” he mentioned, calling for insurance policies to “be certain that the value of meals displays the affect of various manufacturing programs”.
In response to the information, the EU natural market skilled a decline of two.8% in 2022. Nevertheless, there was notable development in international locations comparable to Estonia (+6%) and the Netherlands (+4.4%).
Optimistic traits
“The EU’s natural space continued to develop steadily in 2022,” reads the report, “reaching 16.9 million hectares”.
This accounts for 10.4 per cent of the whole farmland within the EU and represents a rise of 5.1% in comparison with 2021 knowledge.
In the meantime, the variety of natural producers within the EU grew by 9.5% to greater than 419,000 farmers, with most positioned in Italy.
Want for additional assist
The report warns that whereas the EU’s Frequent Agricultural Coverage (CAP) performs a “pivotal function” within the technique of reaching natural targets, it seems “considerably insufficient” as a result of its structure ends in “various ranges of ambitions” throughout member states.
“Its effectiveness on this regard is dependent upon its means to supply sturdy assist to natural farmers and acknowledge their extra efforts and investments,” reads the examine.
In response to the authors, the CAP’s “eco-schemes” have supplied a chance to incentivise environmentally pleasant farming practices. Nevertheless – they are saying – as a result of their definition is delegated to EU international locations, there are “important variations” throughout the bloc.
[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro/Alice Taylor]
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