Guest blog by Volker Petersen, rapporteur of the 2015 EESC Opinion ‘The importance of agricultural trade for the future development of agriculture and farming in the EU in the context of global food security’.

As the world’s largest agricultural exporter – ahead of the USA, Brazil, China and Canada – and its largest agricultural importer – ahead of the United States, China, Japan and Russia – the EU bears a twofold and growing responsibility for worldwide nutrition and food security. With this responsibility in mind, the external dimension of the CAP must be substantially bolstered and moved higher up the agricultural policy agenda.

In a world where over 800 million people across many countries – particularly in Africa and Asia – still suffer from hunger, one of the principal aims of agricultural and trade policy must be to improve nutrition quantitatively and qualitatively.

In view of these challenges, agricultural trade is often the subject of polemical debates in civil society because of its particular role in food security. This is partly because agricultural trade can have very diverse impacts, helping to address food shortages, but also potentially leading to unwanted dependency.

The EESC therefore wishes to explore more closely not just what agricultural trade achieves but also what is required of it. The challenges are globalisation, liberalisation of the EU agricultural market, the growth in global agricultural trade, the expanding global population, changes in consumption patterns, and demand shifts due to economic growth.

In terms of achieving food security, it is advisable for very poor countries in particular to have a certain level of self-sufficiency in agricultural products. However, complete self-sufficiency for every country and region should not be the only criterion. Even in a country that is more than 100% self-sufficient there is no guarantee that its population is adequately supplied with and has adequate access to food. Thus it can be noted that even in countries with agricultural surpluses there are people who are malnourished or undernourished.

Undernutrition should be seen as an issue of poverty rather than of supply, and understood and addressed on this basis. Food security should preferably be ensured by creating income, and has less to do with a given self-sufficiency and/or trade status. In very poor countries a large proportion of the population practises subsistence farming and has virtually no other income. When it comes to improving food security, the main criteria focused on, alongside income generation and an appropriate income distribution must therefore be availability, affordability, and accessibility and stability of access to food.

Following the substantial opening up of its agricultural markets, the EU will therefore generally feel the impact of volume and price fluctuations on global markets much more keenly. At the same time its responsibility for global food security is increasing given its comparatively favourable and stable production conditions.

For the full text of the EESC Opinion: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.nat-opinions.35264

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