Presentation at EEAC2016 conference in Barcelona that I used as moderator to open a session on advising governments in relation to resilience of the food system and food water energy nexus

1. www.rli.nl

2. Towards a resilient food (system)
policy in the light of the nexus
perspective
Krijn J. Poppe
RLI, The Netherlands

3. Five major challenges for the food system
 Food and nutrition security and safety
 Climate change and water & energy use (Nexus)
 Reducing ecological impacts, support biodiversity
 Healthy diet for a lifelong healthy lifestyle
 Inequality
 Source: Louise O. Fresco and Krijn J. Poppe Towards a
Common Agricultural and Food Policy, Wageningen 2016

4. Five innovation areas
 New animal and plant breeding techniques
 Digitalisation and big data
 Energy and bio-based transitions
 Redesigning the food chain
 Social innovations
Source: Louise O. Fresco and Krijn J. Poppe Towards a
Common Agricultural and Food Policy, Wageningen 2016

5. Several types of policies
 Agricultural policy (CAP, and for fish: CFP)
 Rural development
 Environmental policy (Nitrate, Water, Pesticides)
Enough to enable food-water-energy nexus resilience?
 Food policy (consumer oriented)
 Or Food System policy (oriented to all food chain
actors)
How to integrate:
• Resource Use Efficiency and Resilience
• Circular Economy (reduce, reuse, recycle)

6. The rationale for a food (system) policy
 Climate smart food and healthy food go hand in
hand: less meat, more fish, fruit and vegetables...
 The productivist frame has to be replaced or
complemented by a sufficiency frame (SCAR, 2011)
 There is already “implicit” food policy (VAT rates,
health advises, food safety, city design etc.)
 Farmers are not only integrated in markets, but now
also in supply chains (or ‘food nets’) that are
dominated by large companies in retail, food
processing and input industries. Externalities of
these chains are most of all at farm level (the
weakest link): compensation by government or
improving the system?

7. Relation to (common) agricultural policy
 Is in search for a new rationale, also to prevent
budget cuts
 In some countries like the NL there is a lot of criticism
on agriculture and the food system, partly biased by
myths and misunderstandings with consumers and
with farmers
 And a lot of interest for food issues, and experiments
in urban farming, cities with food policies etc. Leads
to diversity and resilience
 Could an “agricultural and food policy” solve this?
 Institutional agenda: linked to the future mission and
survival of the Ministry of Agriculture

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