A fairer future for farmers is a greener future for Europe

Laurence Tubiana is the CEO of the European Climate Foundation.

European farmers have been taking to the streets to protest untenable levels of hardship — and their anger is understandable.

From increasing production costs and administrative burdens to unfair competition, low wages and the increasingly severe effects of climate change, it’s a known fact that many farmers are suffering — and have been for decades. They’re the first victims of a broken system that’s set up to exploit both people and nature. And a fairer future for them is also a greener future for Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of family farms disappear across Europe every year, replaced by large agricultural enterprises. And with them go many young people, who leave the countryside in search of a more dignified future, sapping the life from rural communities in the process. 

From my own experience working on these issues in government, I know all too well how decades of harmful subsidies and market-driven policies have rewarded large agricultural enterprises, supermarkets and agrochemical companies, all at the expense of a fair deal for farmers and the rural economy.

At present, 80 percent of the EU’s farm subsidies go to just 20 percent of farmers, while supermarkets and food processing companies — as well as pesticide and fertilizer companies — continue to boost their profits. In France, one in 10 farms actually lose money, and across Europe, many take on significant debt simply to buy the machinery and equipment they need to compete in cut-throat markets.

There’s no food without farmers, just as there’s no farming without nature. | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

Thus locked into a spiral of low prices, increasing production costs and debt, many farmers simply can’t afford to switch to more sustainable practices. Instead, they see the value they create captured by more powerful players in the supply chain, while they’re left to suffer the health effects of using harmful chemicals.

Farmers and rural areas deserve better. 

The climate community stands with farmers too, with many climate activists joining their protests, calling for a just transition that rewards rather than penalizes sustainable farming. 

Farmers know the critical importance of tackling the climate and nature crisis all too well. Agriculture is highly exposed to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change, like drought and flooding and biodiversity loss. For instance, the EU expects overall cereal production to be 4.3 percent below the 5-year average this season, mainly because of adverse weather conditions.

Simply put, there’s no food without farmers, just as there’s no farming without nature. Currently, the European Commission estimates that 60 to 70 percent of European soil is unhealthy. And this not only increases the risk of drought and wildfires, but it also reduces the amount of arable land for farming. 

Accordingly, a recent poll of French farmers found 61 percent believe the ecological transition is a necessity. But this is at odds with public perception and much of the media coverage of the protests, which cast environmental and climate regulation as one of farmers’ main grievances. Politicians should listen to farmers themselves — not the corporate lobbyists and agitators who claim to speak on their behalf.

Across Europe, many farmers take on significant debt simply to buy the machinery and equipment they need to compete in cut-throat markets. | Arthur Gekiere/Belga Mag via Getty Images

Moreover, rather than addressing the root causes of the protests, policymakers are now opting to roll back the very few safeguards designed to preserve our land, biodiversity and rural areas, casting doubt on plans to reduce the agricultural sector’s emissions under the EU Green Deal. 

But backsliding on decarbonization and nature restoration would be counterproductive. And while a short-term approach may appease the loudest voices, it does very little to address farmers’ fundamental concerns and demands.

What Europe needs instead is a fair deal that addresses the systemic issues underpinning our food system in order to restore dignity in farming. For example, reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is overdue, but without first rebalancing the highly unequal distribution of who receives the funds, simply increasing the total subsidies disbursed under the scheme would miss the point. More financial support should be used to incentivize sustainable practices and less should be given to the richest, typically most polluting mega farms.  

What decades of protests have unanimously — and repeatedly — called for are fair and stable prices that will at least cover production costs, a more equitable redistribution of farm subsidies, and more support in the rollout of sustainable agricultural practices.

On trade, meanwhile, there’s an urgent need to ensure imported products comply with the same environmental standards that apply to European farmers. And the EU should legislate for a “buy European and sustainable” requirement in public procurement, ensuring that the meals served in our schools, hospitals, creches and universities are made with sustainable food grown by our Continent’s farmers.

Addressing these issues is the only way to end the protests while also sticking to a green transition that both farmers and consumers need. Through the Strategic Dialogue for agriculture — which was convened by Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen with the goal of finding a solution to the current political impasse — Europe has an opportunity to do this. However, it’s vital that all voices be heard, including those of smallholder farmers, farm workers, consumers and climate campaigners — not just the usual corporate actors.

Without a just rural deal, there will be no green deal.