The strategy spells out ambitious targets to be reached by 2030 

***

On the 20th of May, the European Commission presented its much-awaited Farm to Fork Strategy. The strategy, planned for release first in March and then in April, had to be delayed and adapted with the insurgence of the Covid-19 crisis.

A key pillar of the broader European Green Deal, the  Farm to Fork Strategy aims at fostering food sustainability by changing the lifestyles, health, and environment of Europeans. It sets greening targets to be achieved by 2030 to transform the EU’s food system, including notably:

  • a reduction by 50% of the use and risk of pesticides,
  • a reduction by at least 50% of nutrient losses in the environment,
  • a reduction by at least 20% of the use of fertilizers,
  • a reduction by 50% in sales of antimicrobials used for farmed animals and aquaculture,
  • reaching 25% of agricultural land under organic farming.

The Farm to Fork Strategy was presented to the public in conjunction with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The Biodiversity Strategy proposes transforming by 2030 at least 30% of Europe's lands and seas into effectively managed protected areas and bringing back at least 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features. Additionally, to restore degraded ecosystems and improve the capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, it proposes planting at least 3 billion trees by 2030.

CEMA continues to underline the need for an approach based on comprehensive impact assessments and stakeholder involvement when setting such ambitious targets, and stresses that a significant increase in the uptake of new technologies such as Precision Agriculture and Digital Farming will undoubtedly condition progress towards these goals in a global competitive environment.

 

More information about the Farm to Fork strategy can be found here.

To know more about the EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030 click here. The expected role of Research and Innovation programmes Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe to reach the Biodiversity strategy goals is summarized in an infographic here