now we need to think more about the food security.
Food security.
After significant disruptions arising from the war in Ukraine
have set media ablaze with doom and gloom predictions,
it’s food security, but not necessarily food, that is on everyone’s lips.
But, beyond the headlines, what is really going on?
Are we facing a food shortage in the EU?
Let’s take a look.
So, what exactly are we talking about when we say food security?
Well, food security is the measure of an individual's ability to access food
that is nutritious and sufficient in quantity.
It is a concept carved into the European Treaties and,
together with farmers’ support, takes centre stage in the EU’s main farming subsidies programme,
the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
Indeed, the CAP which is turning 60 years old this year.
was conceived to support the farming sector after years of devastating war in Europe.
Some of the policy’s original goals included in the Treaty of Rome were basically:
increasing productivity and stabilising markets,
ensuring the availability of food at reasonable prices.
In two words: food security.
But, at least for a hot minute, it seemed that food security was off the menu,
or at least took a backseat.
This is reflected in the most recent CAP reform,
which has shifted the focus somewhat to place more emphasis on environmental practices.
But the war has put food security firmly back on the agenda in a big way.
This is because Ukraine and Russia are two of the biggest agricultural powerhouses in the world.
Together, they provide more than a third of the world’s wheat and barley,
and over half the world’s maize, sunflower oil and seeds.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned that the war in Ukraine
has put 45 of the poorest countries at risk of a “hurricane of hunger”.
So if there are concerns about food security
the first thing you might think is to produce more.
And if you think of a country like a kitchen, it seems logical.
When the cupboards are bare, buy more food.
Can’t buy more food?
Get out in the garden and make some yourself.
This is essentially the line that the Commission and EU farmers are taking.
In a recent communication, the EU executive presented a series of action
aimed at increasing the productivity of the sector.
To give one example, the huge support package was partially funded
by the never-before-triggered crisis reserve fund,
which will support the producers most affected by the serious consequences of the war in Ukraine.
The problem is, a kitchen isn’t a good analogy for a country.
Because, in fact, the Commission has made it clear time and time again that
at least in the EU, there is enough food to go around.
Let me confirm that for the time being,
there's no risk for food security in the EU.
For EU buyers, there is the problem of growing prices.
So it’s not just what you’ve got, but what you do with it
or, put simply, the issue here isn’t that there’s no food - it’s that people might not be able to afford it.
This means that food accessibility, and not availability,
is arguably becoming the biggest concern.
Now, this isn’t to say that the risk of starvation through lack of access to food isn’t very real.
But the question is, if the key issue in the EU is accessibility,
why the push on production?
Well, the problem is that the EU is very limited in its capacity to help on anything to do with affordability.
As we explained before, the CAP was originally focused on production,
and so logically offers a range of production orientated measures.
So, in conclusion the EU might not be running out of food any time soon,
but the issue of food security for Europe’s poorest still looms large.
The answer lies in a multipronged attack
strong social policies combined with management of food markets and commodity prices
but, unfortunately, in many of these areas, the EU’s powers are limited.