Opinion article by Anwar Zibaoui, General Coordinator of ASCAME
COVID-19 has raised awareness of the importance of food security among producers, companies, governments and consumers.
Agricultural production is one of the pillars of the economy, since it represents 3% of world GDP and almost 30% of global employment. However, agricultural markets are unstable and react to speculative forecasts by operators, with variations in prices, as happened in 1986, 1996 or 2008. Strong price increases trigger riots and revolts among consumers, in addition to a high income instability for producers: agri-food SMEs and farms.
In 2020 this situation became more complicated by the closing of borders in order to contain the pandemic. Food insecurity, which already affects almost 40% of the world population due to lack of food or to its poor quality, is now much more compromised by the incorrect functioning of supply chains and public health.
Furthermore, due to the globalisation of markets, agrifood chains have become fragmented, making them more vulnerable to economic and health crises. These crises, added to the degradation of natural resources (land, water, biodiversity) and climate change, directly question the agro-industrial food system.
It is time to make efficient approaches. Heritage food diets, such as the Mediterranean Diet, should constitute the basis for the construction of regional food systems, based on aspects such as proximity, solidarity and autonomy, and therefore be more resistant to economic and social crises, or to health or weather ones.
By mobilising agroecology, circular bioeconomy and participatory governance, these systems have the capacity to guarantee sustainable local development by recovering the internal market for local products. All this helps to reduce territorial fractures by revitalising rural areas, and also to export to a more aware international market.
There is an urgent need to promote a new vision and a new model of association for the agricultural and food sector in the Mediterranean, based on joint development networks, which help to overcome current and future crises.
Shared long-term visibility is essential to mobilise the necessary resources to develop agricultural cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean and promote the construction of an integrated regional market.
The agricultural industry has gone through a phase of innovation in recent decades. Food security, new trends and sustainability are now creating more opportunities for agri-food SMEs, which are so necessary to support global food security.
Digitalising the sector in order to increase agricultural production and face climate risks has demonstrated its relevance and promotes the value chain in terms of productivity, traceability, quality, market access or health control.
Modern farms use solutions and software to intervene on parcels, comply with regulations, monitor export certification, or manage the workforce.
In 2019, global startups invested nearly $ 20.000 million in digital technologies. In the Mediterranean, the challenge is to promote modern, competitive, global and resource-sustainable agriculture to increase the attractiveness of the sector and offer employment opportunities to young people in a technology-dependent labour market.
The availability, access and consumption of quality food are necessary for well-being. In areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, 4 out of 10 people live in extreme poverty on less than $ 1.90 per day. And unfortunately, the number of malnourished people is increasing worldwide due to the combined effects of droughts, floods, pests, international conflicts or variations in the prices of raw materials. The ‘Zero Hunger ’Sustainable Development Goal for 2030 is almost impossible.
However, there are options. Strategies to achieve food security can be implemented by helping farmers and small producers. Barriers must be removed; it is necessary to invest in renewable energy such as wind, solar or hydro through public-private partnerships to increase electricity supply, and facilitate local food production and processing. Infrastructures, highways, and roads can be improved to connect rural and agricultural producing areas to markets, and direct subsidies can be provided to rural producers, who are the ones who can avoid hunger and extreme poverty.
The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating existing problems. For this reason, it is urgent to promote measures to reactivate the agri-food sector and avoid suffocation. But it is also imperative to lay the foundations for a new model of sustainable development. It is time to make courageous decisions.