Enthusiasm in advance
A conference on sustainable cultivation and agroforestry took me to Fuerteventura at the beginning of February. During theuring the preparation I told them about the two events on the topic: The agriculture of tomorrow, and immediately the organizers of
of the Vitalis Foundation were very enthusiastic and offered me to do part of the three-day workshop on this topic with the local farmers and participants.
Current status
Currently, the European Parliament is about to plan the subsidies for agriculture for the next 7 years. The EU Commission's draft is not very ambitious and hardly tries to find solutions in view of climate change and species extinction. Above all, large farms and the food industry benefit from the current proposal. These players will receive the largest part of around € 50 billion. The small and medium-sized farms, the local production only get small consolation. Due to this current development, the event took place in Fuerteventura.
Results
Even though the situation here is quite different from that in comparatively rainy Germany, the results were very similar to those of the first two events in Germany: the various groups all spoke out in favour of more support for regional production, less chemistry and genetically manipulated products and participation in decisions on the distribution of funding. Away from distribution by area, away from the area payment. There were particularly strong complaints about corrupt and obstructive bureaucracy. And yet, and this was also made very clear by many, especially the farmers, Fuerteventura has great potential to become a green, lively island with sustainable production. However, the way the current EU funds are distributed in Spain and Fuerteventura, these funds tend to harm both the local farming families and the remaining natural resources.
- Katja Wiese
To the info page of the event
To the event page of the next event