Transforming food systems with farmers: a pathway for the EU

If farmers are supported to take climate-smart actions the EU could reduce its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 6%, restore soil health of over 14% of its total agricultural land, and add between €1.9bn and €9.3 billion annually to farmers’ incomes. Transforming Food Systems with Farmers, written as part of the broader effort of the 100 Million Farmers’ EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition, makes recommendations on how to work with farmers to achieve these results.The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition designed and implemented a survey that asked farmers from seven countries, making up a majority of the EU farmer base, about the main barriers to scaling climate-smart agricultural solutions. These included: challenging farm economics, lack of awareness, uneven technology adoption, and fragmentation of policies at the national level.
Based on these findings, The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition is committed to accelerating the feasibility and impact of the climate-smart transition through flagship initiatives.