المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

Barriers, like opportunities, have different and diverse connotations

depending on the country, political regime, degree of development, soil

and subsoil resources, geographical and geopolitical position, etc. So:



a) In countries where there are large agricultural enterprises, very

strong groups, mostly international, which coagulate new classes of

financial investors, until recently not traditionally involved in the

agricultural sector, namely banking groups, investment funds, individual

traders and private equity companies , "land transaction brokers" etc.,

they professionally and efficiently manage the production mechanisms and

method, imposing their own industrial strategies and defining, in the last

resort, even the taste and quality of the food products we consume.

These groups possess technologies and laboratories for the production of

germplasm of the highest quality (varieties and hybrids of plants and

animals, Genetically Modified Organisms, etc.), are in a relationship with

or govern the large markets, ensuring the possibility of selling the food

products obtained , benefit from subsidies and preferential political

"treatments", far surpassing as "applied artificial intelligence" the

holders of knowledge, respectively the actors in the domestic agri-food

systems, including the university type.



b) In countries where there are, for the most part, small and

medium-sized owners, usually not organized in Cooperatives or other forms

of association and extension, the phenomenon of land grabbing occurs, that

is, of selling/buying land at minimum prices, as a consequence of the lack

of the constant access to specialized consulting, to the domestic

manufacturer's sales market, the lack of access to stimulating financing

to develop the business, the lack of access to large retail chains, which

have very high procurement standards from the point of view of this

category by producers (including in terms of labeling and packaging),

often requesting certifications issued by international and independent

bodies, for certain categories of products, all of which presuppose

knowledge as well as significant financial costs.

In addition, local producers do not have a developed production and

distribution process, which is why other difficulties arise, such as

effective access to retailer representatives, storage of goods,

organization of transport at local or national level or ensuring a

continuous annual flow of products to meet the needs of retailers.

Conclusively, small and medium producers, those who should be the basis of

agro-food production, cannot build and do not have an organized system of

the market for the produced food, through which they can also benefit from

the introduction and rapid absorption of new knowledge, in order to the

adoption of new technologies and the correct fulfillment of business

obligations.

Also, these producers do not have adequate knowledge regarding the

importance of digitizing their work, nor do they invest in acquiring

managerial skills, do not consistently participate in the provision of

data and do not technically exploit their scientific interpretation.

As a specialist in Food Security and Safety, I believe that any national

agri-food system, based on knowledge, requires a synergistic support of

national and community policies, including financial ones, for better

functioning, for a coherent implementation of governance and resilience

systems existing or future.



Univ. Prof. Dr. Benone Ion PASARIN

Romania