Following the way in which the farmers' grumble has been "appeased", we thought it would be interesting to take a step aside and share a collective tribune which appeared in Le Monde on February 05. This text proposes credible ways of reshaping the French agricultural landscape, and we have transcribed it here in its entirety. The article can be downloaded in .pdf format - among other resources - from theAGTER website, here.
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At AGTER's initiative, and in line with reflections within the Land Coalition and the Nourrir Collective, over 50 players from the associative and agricultural world and academics have signed a tribune published in Le Monde on February 5, 2024 in response to the crisis in the agricultural world and the government's agricultural orientation bill.
La tribune:
Agriculture is in crisis. Farmers' anger reveals distress and suffering of so many different origins, such is the heterogeneity of the agricultural world, whether in terms of income, debt or working conditions.
Faced with these recurring social crises, the State generally responds, at the beginning of February, with tax measures, reductions in charges and standards, and measures to support agricultural prices. While these measures seem to benefit everyone, the largest production units benefit more than the smallest, with the former continuing to "devour" the latter.
The largest farms are moving towards an agro-industrial model: corporate agriculture, which most often favors simplified, standardized, highly mechanized and automated production systems. This model is based on monoculture, on ever-larger plots of land with no trees or hedges, and on excessive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, to the detriment of ecosystems, agricultural and biological diversity, and soil and water quality. It concentrates production in ever-larger buildings, reducing living beings to machines for producing milk, meat, eggs or tasteless fruit and vegetables with a heavy carbon footprint. It leads to the emergence of an agriculture without farmers, for the benefit of shareholders interested in the profitability of their capital.
Overhauling the compensation system
In fact, more and more farms are controlled by non-farming shareholders. As a result, a growing proportion of Common Agricultural Policy subsidies, intended for farm workers according to European Union texts, is being distributed to non-farmers. This type of corporate farming, mainly geared towards exports, is gaining ground throughout the world thanks to free-trade agreements, and is leading to a reduction in the number of agricultural workers, a rural exodus and the impoverishment of the countryside. It concentrates and relocates production to the detriment of family and peasant farming and food sovereignty, in both North and South. What's more, it is developing at the expense of the climate, biodiversity, the diversity of landscapes and the health of all.
In view of the diversity of agriculture, the system of remuneration for farmers' work needs to be overhauled to take account of production costs, which differ widely according to the size of production units and farming practices, and to protect them from the various impacts of climate change. For example, per-hectare subsidies should be abandoned in favor of per-asset
subsidies, and support for organic farming should not just be maintained, but expanded. Such measures would increase the rate of takeovers of family units, and contribute to the renewal of generations, an objective that the government claims it will achieve without giving itself the means to achieve it.
To achieve this renewal of generations, a structural policy worthy of the name must be implemented to direct land towards aspiring new farmers and smaller farmers, and towards agro-ecological practices. Access to land, the main obstacle to setting up a business, particularly for those who are not the son or daughter of a farmer, needs to be better regulated. Land must be allocated to farmers as natural persons, regardless of the mode of access to the land and the status of the production units.
Land concentration underestimated
This renewed policy presupposes knowledge of production units, which is far from being the case. [In 2022, won't the press discover that a 2,121-hectare unit in the Vienne brings together 12 "administrative farms"?]1 The official data themselves underestimate land concentration. A register of production units needs to be drawn up, making it possible to distinguish, among their owners, investors who are not involved in farm work and genuine farmers.
Generational renewal requires a proactive structural policy
This policy also calls for the revision of "regional farm master plans". These should prioritize, throughout the country, facilities that create jobs and added value per unit area, are low in synthetic inputs, have diversified production and agro-ecological and/or organic farming practices. This type of regulation would enable us to move from rhetoric to action for the benefit of producers and the entire population, for example by reconstituting market-garden and fruit belts around towns and cities, as part of local authority food projects.
This type of regulation presupposes an operational observatory of land markets, which would collect and publicize proposed leases and sales of land and shares in agricultural companies. It will also ensure that the procedures for issuing farming authorizations (which form the basis of the structures policy) are more transparent and participatory.
These authorizations must be based on a maximum surface area criterion (weighted according to production) per farmer, whether for leasing, purchasing land or shares, and on the opinion of departmental and local land commissions. These will be made up of representatives of farmers, local authorities, environmental associations, consumers and citizens' associations involved in agriculture and food. This policy goes hand in hand with recognition of the diversity of support structures for farmers setting up in farming.
Successfully renewing the generations of farmers and ensuring the necessary ecological transition requires a reorientation of both European and national agricultural policy. Only this reorientation will provide sustainable responses to the agricultural crises.
List of first signatories :
Bukhari-de-Pontual - Sylvie - CCFD - Comité Catholique contre la Faim et pour le Développement - President of CCFD
-Chevassus-au-Louis Bernard - Humanité et Biodiversité - President of Humanité et biodiversité
-Clément-Grandcourt Stéphanie - Fondation pour la nature et l'Homme - Managing Director of FNH
-Cochet Hubert - Professor of Comparative Agriculture at AgroParisTech
-Duflot Cécile - Oxfam France - Managing Director of Oxfam France
-Gaiji Khaled - Friends of the Earth - President of Friends of the Earth France
-Gatet Antoine - France Nature Environnement - President of FNE
-Grimonprez Benoît - Professor at the University of Poitier and researcher in rural and environmental law
-Julliard Jean-François - Greenpeace - Managing Director of Greenpeace France
-Levesque Robert - AGTER - President of AGTER
-Marandola Laurence - Confédération paysanne - Porte-parole nationale de la Confédération paysanne
-Reder Paul - Fédération Associative pour le Développement de l'Emploi Agricole et Rural - Président de la FADEAR
-Testard Alan - La Fédération Nationale d'Agriculture Biologique - Secrétaire national Installation Transmission de la FNAB
-Weber Michaël - Fédération des Parcs Naturels Régionaux de France - Président de la Fédération des Parcs naturels régionaux de France
Listes complètes des signataires :
•Apollin Frédéric – AVSF Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières – Directeur Général de AVSF
•Arnaud Luc – GRET – Directeur Général du GRET
•Auzeral Bertrand – Bee Friendly – Président de Bee Friendly et apiculteur professionnel
•Azan Jean – Ami.e.s de la Confédération paysanne – Représentant des Ami.e.s de la Confédération paysanne
•Bausson Jean-Luc – Chrétiens Dans Monde Rural – Co-président des Chrétiens dans le Monde Rural
•Bernard Geneviève – Terre de Liens – Présidente de la Fédération nationale Terre de Liens
•Boulongne Evelyne – MIRAMAP Mouvement inter-régional des AMAP – Administratrice et porte-parole de MIRAMAP
•Castellanet Christian – AGTER/GRET – Ancien directeur scientifique du GRET et membre d’AGTER
•Chevalier Margot – Chrétiens Dans Monde Rural – Co-présidente des Chrétiens dans le Monde Rural
•Cicolella André – Réseau Environnement Santé – Président du Réseau Environnement Santé
•Clément-Grandcourt Stéphanie – Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme – Directrice Générale de la Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme
•Cohen Sarah – ISF Agrista – Co-présidente de ISF Agrista et ingénieure agronome
•Couture Jean-Louis – Agroéconomiste, expert international en gestion des ressources et évaluateur de projets européens et AFD
•Cras Yvon – Action Aid – peuple solidaire – Délégué d’Action Aid
•David Vincent – Max Havelaar France – Président de Max Havelaar France
•de Saint Sauveur Armelle – Slow Food France – Membre du Comité d’action Biodiversité de Slow Food France
•Froitier Lucile – WWOOF World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms – Présidente de WWOOF et ouvrière agricole
•Ghesquière Quentin – Oxfam France – Chargé de campagne et plaidoyer Sécurité Alimentaire à Oxfam France
•Godard Jacques – SOL Alternatives Agroécologiques et Solidaires – Co-président de SOL
•Hirou Philippe – Afac-Agroforesteries – Président de l’Afac-Agroforesteries
•Husset Marie-Jeanne – Agir pour l’environnement – Présidente d’Agir pour l’environnement
•Kieffer Julien – RENETA Réseau national des espaces-test agricoles – Co-président de RENETA
•Kien Julien – Bio Consom’acteurs – Président de Bio Consom’acteurs
•Largeaud Amandine – RENETA Réseau national des espaces-test agricoles – Co-président de RENETA
•Lauverjat Nadine – Générations Futures – Déléguée Générale de Génération Futures
•Leloup Lucie – Collectif Les Pieds dans le Plat – Co-présidente du Collectif Les Pieds dans le Plat – Fille de paysan bio
•Lépine Christophe – FCEN Fédération des Conservatoires d’espaces naturels – Président de la FCEN
•Leras Gérard – Ancien vice-président de la région Rhône-Alpes
•Lespagnol Patrick – MABD Mouvement de l’Agriculture Bio-Dynamique – Président du Mouvement de l’Agriculture Bio-dynamique
•Levard Laurent – Agro-economiste
•Loyat Jacques – Ingénieur général honoraire du Génie rural des eaux et des forêts
Melot Romain – Directeur de recherche à l’INRAE
•Mouchard Hervé – Collectif Les Pieds dans le Plat – Co-président du Collectif Les Pieds dans le Plat – Fils de paysans bio
•Muret Cécile – Confédération paysanne – Responsable de la commission foncier de la Confédération paysanne
•Perrin Coline – Directrice de recherche en géographie à l’INRAE
•Picard Alice – Attac France – Porte-parole d’Attac France
•Pons Christian – UNAF Union Nationale de l’Apiculture Française – Président de l’UNAF
•Rousselet Vincent – Bio Equitable en France – Directeur de Bio Equitable en France
•Rousselot-Pailley Manon – MRJC Mouvement Rural de Jeunesse Chrétienne – Présidente du MRJC
•Savy Yvan – CIWF – Directeur de CIWF France
•Taisne Anne-Françoise – CFSI Comité Français pour la Solidarité Internationale – Déléguée générale du Comité Français pour la Solidarité Internationale
•Tavernier Boris – Vrac Vers un Réseau d’Achat en Commun – Délégué Général de Vrac
•Testard Alan – FNAB Fédération Nationale d’Agriculture Biologique – Secrétaire national Installation Transmission de la FNAB et Référent professionnel en charge du foncier
•Tissier José – Commerce Equitable France – Président de Commerce Equitable France
•Vergati Samanta – Altrimenti – Fondatrice et Directrice Générale de Altrimenti
•Vernet Françoise – Terre & Humanisme – Présidente de Terre & Humanisme
•Verzotti Nicolas – Réseau Civam – Vice-Président de Réseau Civam et maraîcher dans le Vaucluse
•Zuccolo Ghislain – Welfarm – Directeur général de Welfarm
Press contact:
06 19 81 26 61 - pierre-andre.duffrene@agter.org Pierre-André Duffrène - France/Europe Property Manager
To find out more :
- Major trends in French agriculture, Robert Levesque, AGTER, 2023 http://agter.asso.fr/article1785_fr.html
- Factors in the evolution of farmland prices - Robert Levesque, aGter, 2023 http://agter.asso.fr/article1785_fr.html
- Report: Le foncier agricole sur le territoire périurbain du Triangle de Gonesse https://carmapaysdefrance.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Etude_fonciere-CARMA-4p-web.pdf
- A series of surveys by Splann! on land and agricultural issues in Brittany https://splann.org/enquete/foncier-agricole/
- Collectif Nourrir : Securing the future of our agriculture and food https://collectifnourrir.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Vision-du-Collectif-Nourrir-PLOAA-112023.pdf
This article and the downloadable .pdf version - among other resources - can be consulted on theAGTER website, here.
- This sentence has been removed from the tribune published by Le Monde but appears in the version validated by the signatories ︎
