Report 2006-2016 : Food safety, the necessity of a common policy : ideas to take action

Published : Friday 10 June 2016

Food safety and sustainable development : the necessity of a common policy

 

Food safety : a priority in SEMCs

 Many issues call for a greater technical, territorial and commercial cooperation on agricultural, dietary and rural issues between the Northern and Southern shores of the Mediterranean: population growth in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean with nearly 400 million people to feed in 2030, structural external dependence of these countries to have access to strategic commodities, rise of nutritional imbalances and diseases following the progressive renunciation to the Mediterranean diet, limits of the intensive agricultural production model in the North and in the South, diminution of available agricultural surfaces, impacts of climate change, especially on the availability of water resources.

For the implementation of a “Mediterranean CAP”

 Aware of the increasing food insecurity in the region, in 2007 IPEMED started advocating for the creation of a “rural agro-food industry pact for Euro-Mediterranean regional integration”, based on principles of proximity, complementarity, solidarity and co-development. Drawing on its first diagnosis and prospective works, the Institute further developed recommendations on the basis of the plans and principles developed by the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This is the object of the appeal launched in 2012 for the implementation of a Euro-Mediterranean agro-food and agricultural policy. This policy would be the cornerstone of the new North-South and South-South cooperation model. It would aim at improving quantitative and qualitative food safety for populations.

 Yet, in order to build regional collective food safety, it is necessary to take advantage of North-South and South-South complementarities such as the needs in cereals and animal products in SEMCs and the production capacity in the EU, combined with the needs in fruit and vegetables in the EU. IPEMED recommends two strategies: the increase in local food production, the promotion of the Mediterranean dietary model, especially via education and the development of geographic indications, and the contribution to the sustainable development of rural zones, via the organisation of territorialised agro-food industries. It also recommends the implementation of supply contracts in the medium term, of security stocks for key products and of a community preference for all food products.

 IPEMED succeeded in promoting an integrated vision of food, agricultural and rural challenges in the Mediterranean, taking into account issues of employment, enhancement of rural spaces, management of natural resources, health, etc. Thanks to its mature works carried out by renowned experts, the Institute was able to offer operational solutions, sometimes limited to the Euro-North-African region, during major international events (International Agriculture Show of Meknes, International Agriculture Show of Paris).

 “The last ten years were characterised by a progress in production, thanks to the increase in agricultural yields, but also strong market instability and the increase in importations. IPEMED carried out deep analyses in these different fields, giving rise to original propositions, such as: Euro-Mediterranean food and agricultural policy, winning back consumers via the Mediterranean diet and certified local products, territorialised production and marketing sectors. Yet, these dynamics can only work within a global geo-economic and geopolitical partnership including Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.

 Jean-Louis RASTOIN, UNESCO chair in World Food Systems, Montpellier SupAgro, Associate expert

 

Associate experts  : Jean-Louis Rastoin, Hassan Benabderrazik

 Main publications :

  • Les Notes d’Ipemed, n°6, « Sécurité alimentaire en Méditerranée, un enjeu géostratégique majeur », January 2010
  • Construire la Méditerranée, « Pour une politique agricole et agroalimentaire euro-méditerranéenne », October 2012
  • Construire la Méditerranée, « Céréales et oléoprotéagineux au Maghreb : Pour un co-développement de filières territorialisées », June 2014

Key figures :

11 publications

More than 30 videos

12 events involving more than 700 actors

 

 To reach the entire report 2006-2016 please click here. 

 

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