Organic research & innovation to deliver sustainable food and farming systems
Our food and farming systems need to respect the planetary boundaries, be climate neutral, circular, diverse, and fair. They need to be resilient and prepared for external shocks and crises like we recently experienced with the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian war in Ukraine and the related energy, fertiliser and food prices crisis, as well as for more long-term trends like the digitalisation of our economies. To achieve this, all actors in the food chain need to embrace change – farmers, input suppliers, processors, retailers, marketers as well as consumers. Policymakers have a crucial role to play in this transformation by ensuring a common, integrated, and holistic vision to food and farming policy. The EU Farm to Fork Strategy1 launched by the European Commission offers such a vision and ambitious targetsto reduce the dependency on pesticides and antimicrobials, reduce excess fertilisation, restore soil health and surface water quality, and reverse biodiversity loss.