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Tropentag 2021, September 15 - 17, hybrid conference, Germany

"Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future"


From Farm to Fork: Is the European Green Deal a Green Deal also for Tropical Countries?

Ana CecĂ­lia Kreter1, Philip-Marcel Cantos-Siemers1, Pastre Rafael2, Guilherme Soria Bastos Filho3, Dietrich Darr1

1Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Fac. of Life Sciences, Germany
2Inst. for Applied Economic Research, Dept. of Macroeconomic Policies and Studies, Brazil
3Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Ministry Office, Brazil


Abstract


The European Commission established the European Green Deal in December 2019 to address the climate and environmental challenges of its member states. The aim of this policy is for the EU to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. For the agricultural sector, the Farm to Fork strategy aims to promote sustainable practices, food security and healthy nutrition through adoption of stringent measures and quality standards in food production, processing, consumption and food loss and waste prevention. In addition, the policy aims to improve the status of the EU’s ecosystems, both in quality and quantity, through the reduced use of agrochemicals, biodiversity conservation targets, and the recovery of degraded areas.
At the same time, the EU is one of the world’s largest importers of agricultural commodities. According to EUROSTAT, the total value of agricultural products imported into the EU in 2019 reached US$ 135 billion. While the Green Deal is seen by some as a vehicle to enforce sustainability standards in the EU, it is also feared that the agricultural productivity decrease associated with the farm to fork strategy will increase the EU’s dependence on food imports and lead to a considerable displacement of land use and deforestation, especially in tropical countries, in the coming decades. Based on current trade agreements and international trade data, this paper investigates the possible bottlenecks of this policy for the agribusiness commodity suppliers, using Brazil as a case study.
This paper is divided into three sections. First, the goals established by the EU Commission regarding agricultural production and rural areas will be presented. Then we will detail the EU’s agricultural commodity trade with tropical countries, indicating the main origins and the products. This section also includes some forecasts for both population and production growth in order to establish a consumption prognosis for the next ten years. Finally, this paper presents the Brazilian Forest Code and the bottlenecks that the Green Deal may generate there in the future.


Keywords: Agricultural commodities, Brazil, European Green Deal, trade market


Contact Address: Ana Cecília Kreter, Rhine-waal University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Marie-Curie-Straße 1, 47533 Kleve, Germany, e-mail: ana.kreter@hsrw.org


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