Improving understanding of the contribution of the organic farming sector to sustainability

This destination will support the EU Commission priority ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’.

R&I will provide new knowledge and innovation in support of the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, built on the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, to ensure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of our farming, fisheries, aquaculture and food sector within the boundaries of our planet. The implementation of the Green Deal actions will continue to guide R&I in this destination to foster sustainable food systems, addressing potential trade-offs between economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability.

The R&I activities under this Destination will contribute to the ambitious objectives of the current CAP concerning the competitiveness and sustainability of feed, food and non-food production as well as additional future CAP policy priorities. More specifically, actions will contribute to the specific objectives of the CAP; EU action plan for the development of organic production; food safety regulations; sustainable use of pesticides requirements under the plant protection products framework; action plan against antimicrobial resistance; animal health and welfare legislations; legislative and non-legislative initiatives to enhance cooperation of primary producers and improve their competitiveness and position in the food chain; protein strategy; contingency plan for ensuring food supply and food security and communications on food security and fertilizers, the Nature Restoration Regulation, the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

R&I will also support the announced Vision for the Fisheries Sector with a 2040 perspective and the European Ocean Pact, a framework of coherence across all policies linked to the ocean. R&I will also be relevant to the outcomes of the evaluation of the common fisheries policy (CFP) and will support its placement under this Pact, as fisheries and aquaculture are affected by other ocean related policies.

An important driving force of food systems transformation should be the integration of sectors, actors (including citizens and consumers) and policies. This will involve a better understanding of the multiple interactions between the components of current food systems, to foster solutions that maximise co-benefits with respect to the priorities of Food 2030^[1].

The EU Communication on Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the^[2] EU provides an overview of the application of biotechnologies in several sectors including food and feed. R&I activities in this destination will also contribute to achieving the objectives of the Strategy for European Life Sciences, the EU Biotech Act, and the new EU bioeconomy strategy.

The Destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions^[3].

Expected impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out credible paths to “ensuring healthy food and nutrition security by making agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture and food systems sustainable, resilient, inclusive and within planetary boundaries”. More specifically, proposed topics should contribute to one or more of the following expected impacts:

• agriculture and food systems contribute to ensuring a secure, safe, sustainable, nutritious, and affordable supply of healthy food in Europe and beyond by fostering its long-term competitiveness, resilience, scalability and sustainability within the boundaries of our planet with the One Health approach;
• farmers are empowered to ensure the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the farming sector, through increasing knowledge, tools, innovative solutions, and advice that allow efficient productivity, working for and with nature, preserving and restoring biodiversity within agricultural ecosystems and helping to decarbonise the EU economy;
• sustainable fisheries and aquaculture (in marine, brackish and freshwater) contribute to fair, healthy, resilient and environment-friendly food systems in healthy aquatic ecosystems with thriving diversity of species and habitats providing ecosystem and climate services and triggering growth and jobs’ creation in coastal and rural areas;
• tools are provided so that citizens and communities are empowered to make the sustainable food choices and move towards safe, healthy, nutritious, accessible, affordable and sustainable diets. Insights and advances in life science and digital & data technologies are valorised to deploy solutions in practice across the EU;
• food businesses, including food processing industries and SMEs, are supported to increase their resilience and competitiveness, while ensuring resource efficiency and sustainability, and human, animal and ecosystem health is preserved.

[1] The four priorities of Food2030 are: 1) nutrition and health; 2) climate and environmental sustainability; 3) circularity and resource efficiency; and 4) innovation and empowering communities.

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52024DC0137.

[3] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions.

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• improved and increased data collection on the environmental, economic and social impacts of the EU organic sector, from farm to consumer levels, leading to improved understanding of the overall impact of the organic sector on sustainability (including climate change mitigation and biodiversity);
• improved capacities of organic supply chains and organic value chain actors, including farmers, to collect and provide data on organic production to fulfil reporting requirements;
• increased cooperation between public and private data providers in the organic sector across the EU.

Scope:

The Vision for Agriculture and Food recognises organic farming as an approach with potential to ensure an attractive and predictable agri-food sector, while at the same time delivering several ecosystem services beneficial for the environment, climate and biodiversity. There is a dual need to, on one hand, better understand the contribution of organic farming and of the organic sector as a whole to the three dimensions of sustainability, and on the other, to improve methods for data collection in the organic sector, in a way that reduces administrative burden on farmers and on other operators. There is potential for both needs to be addressed in combination, and a role for research and innovation to support in achieving this objective.

Proposals should address all the following activities:

• undertake an exhaustive mapping of existing tools, platforms and methods at EU, national and local levels, that allow for the collection of relevant data on organic production to comply with the various reporting requirements of the sector, including under the Common Agricultural Policy and under the EU organic certification. This exercise should include a mapping of the actors involved in the collection of data, as well as an analysis of cost-effectiveness, best practices and challenges faced. It should also include an assessment of the potential of existing tools to reduce administrative burden on organic farmers and on other operators of the organic value chain, as well as to streamline data exchange with relevant actors, including certification bodies and supply chain actors;
• facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on data collection and reporting on organic production across the EU. Identify concrete opportunities for the cross-fertilisation and transfer of solutions among countries/regions;
• assess the need, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of leveraging existing data collected by organic certification bodies in a way that it can simultaneously be used to assess the contribution of organic production to the three axes of sustainability (economic, environmental, social). This should include an analysis of existing standards for the interoperability of agricultural digital systems, and identification of opportunities and challenges;
• develop recommendations, including in relation to governance, for the effective use of current tools for data collection, considering differences across the EU Member States;
• organise and implement training activities targeted to organic farmers and other operators of the organic value chains, to build their capacities to collect relevant data to comply with the reporting obligations on organic production. This should include networking activities to foster cooperation among actors in the organic agri-food supply chains with a view to increasing overall efficiency of the organic sector for data collection.

Proposals should address all EU Member States. Proposals under this topic should support the implementation of the EU Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production^[1] and of the EU regulatory framework for organic farming, and contribute to the objectives of the Vision for Agriculture and Food^[2], the Common Agricultural Policy, and the EU’s biodiversity, zero pollution and climate policies.

Both crop and livestock production systems under organic production are in scope of this topic.

Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure adequate involvement of the main stakeholders involved in the organic sector, and including a range of actors to ensure that different sources of knowledge and perspectives are brought together. The needs and expertise of all relevant actors, including certification bodies, should be duly considered in the activities. Proposals should capitalise on existing knowledge and tools, such as the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN)^[3]. Proposals should build on the results of relevant past/ongoing EU-funded R&I projects relevant for the organic farming sector, as well as of other relevant related work/studies, and on any relevant activities funded under the Digital Europe Programme. Proposals should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources and a plan on how they will collaborate with other relevant ongoing and upcoming EU-funded R&I projects and initiatives, including the Horizon Europe Partnership ‘Agroecology’ and the project that may follow from the topic “HORIZON-CL6-2024-GOVERNANCE-02-01: European Partnership of Agriculture of Data”.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0141R%2801%29

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52025DC0075

[3] https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/data-and-analysis/farm-structures-and-economics/fsdn_en