Scope of CAP Should be Broaden to Encompass Entire Food Chain

12 Sep 2016 --- Wageningen University & Research (WUR) believes the Common Agriculture Policy should be broaden to cope with five major challenges. The CAP should be developed into a wider Common Agriculture & Food Policy dealing with challenges of food and nutrition security, safety, climate change and water, energy use, ecological impacts, healthy diet for a lifelong healthy lifestyle, and inequality.

These challenges cannot only be solved by farmers only, they need the commitment and behavioral change of all the other players in the food chain, including the consumer, covering the scope from breeding to eating, according to WUR. 

WUR organized the Mansholt Lecture: “From agricultural to food policy and beyond” last week in Brussels which gave insights that the CAP needs to be revised with a focus on sustainability instead of just agricultural productivity goals. 

The University is itself involved in research and innovation and expects solutions to coming from five areas; genetics, digitalization and bit data, energy and biobased transitions, chain redesign, and social innovation. WUR wants to see the CAP give way to a more integrated agriculture and food policy. 

“The entire food chain needs to be able to cope with the challenges of the coming decades. We need an integrated food policy that coherently governs and optimizes the entire biocycle from farm to fork, from seed to meat,” says Louise O. Fresco, president of the executive board of WUR.

Currently the CAP consists of two pillars, one which enhances farm income and fosters market stability and another that concerns rural development, competitive position and innovation. The new policy should govern the resilience of the whole food chain and stimulate the interaction between consumption and production.

WUR suggests five new pillars for a successful Common Agriculture & Food Policy in its position paper. Agriculture, food, landscape and the related environment are not a standard economic sector; the commitment of all stakeholders in society is essential and must be based on a solid understanding of how farming and food production work. Five pillars may seem to make things more difficult, but are actually making things clearer.

“We need a policy that addresses the consumer concerns on the food chain and admits that the actors in the food chain are much bigger than in the past, including most farms. ‘One size fits all’ will not do in a more complex Europe; to keep it simple and affordable we need a combination of several targeted instruments,” adds Krijn Poppe, research manager & senior economist at WUR.

by Gaynor Selby