Agriculture needs innovation boost
Brussels, 24 January
Event calls for innovation to avoid a perfect storm of food shortages
In response to the threat of a ‘perfect storm’ of food and other resource shortages predicted by leading scientists, key stakeholders convened in Brussels to underline urgent need for innovation in agriculture.
‘Innovation for Sustainable, Productive and Competitive European Agriculture’, organised by the Intergroup Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, EBCD, IUCN and Knowledge 4 Innovation (K4I) saw discussion of the importance of innovation in order to avoid and mitigate global shortages of food.
The event heard that sustainable, productive and competitive European agriculture can be achieved with a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that encourages and supports innovation; science and technology were declared as key drivers of positive change in European agriculture.
“We have a unique opportunity that no generation had before to use all of the available technologies in order to tackle challenges and create a truly productive, competitive and sustainable agriculture” said Friedhelm Schmider, Director General of European Crop Protection (ECPA).
Responding to Community concerns and future threats, objectives of the next round of CAP reform include addressing the need for increased knowledge transfer, and innovation, in order to tackle the pressing challenges of food security and sustainability.
“Innovation should bring sustainability in environmental, economic and social aspects, thus enabling European farmers to remain competitive", said Joris Baecke, President of the European Young Farmers Association. To this end, “We need an enhanced dialogue between scientists and farmers so that they speak the same language. This would allow for an appropriate contribution from science to the needs of farmers and demands of society. Better communication would certainly contribute to more effectiveness in the dissemination, integration and implementation of innovative tools and more funding is needed in this regard” argued MEP Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, host of the event and Chair of the Agriculture Group of the EP Intergroup “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”. He also underlined that “the real challenge takes place now, as we expect the biggest population increase by 2050, land productivity has stagnated and innovation is needed in order to induce environmentally sustainable production.”
“I call for ensuring a systematic feedback on needs from practice to the scientific community. We need to close the innovation gap.” stated Martin Scheele, Head of Unit Environment, Genetic Resources and European Innovation partnership, European Commission. “Implementation across the EU territory will be crucial”, highlighted Georg Häusler, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Ciolos.
In this respect, the European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability will provide the platform for enhancing cooperation and knowledge exchange between stakeholders. It will bring added value by interlinking policies and promoting innovation instruments.
“Innovation needs to happen everywhere. We need to find both ways of reconciling productive agriculture with environmental conservation, and find innovative ways to maintain high nature value systems,” concluded Trees Robijns, EU agriculture Policy Officer from Birdlife Europe.
For further information contact:
Secretariat of the Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development
European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD):
Mélanie LAMAISON melanie.lamaison@ebcd.org
