Balancing Sustainability and Farmer Satisfaction: Challenges in French Agriculture
You might have seen an article or two on the “anger of French farmers” in the New York Times or scrolled through a chaotic TikTok showing farmers spreading cow manure on city halls. As I study abroad in HEC Paris, the conflict surrounding farmers and the government in France (and across Europe) has come to life from getting notifications that certain national roads were closed causing mass traffic or discussing about the matter in my Environmental Policies class. So, what’s really happening?
In recent times, the French agricultural landscape has been a battleground of conflicting interests, where hopes for sustainability clash with the stark realities of economic and social pressures that farmers face every day. French farmers, as well as many other European farmers, are confronted with the increasing financial burden of meeting stringent environmental standard – imposed both by the French government and the EU – the perceived lack of recognition of their career, and extremely low wages. In fact, 18% of agricultural households live under the poverty line and according the Agricultural prime minister, the salary of farmers have dropped 40% in the past 30 years (Europe 1).
Farmers with their Tractors Protesting in front of L'Arc de Triomphe
Now, with the environmental and sustainable farming policy changes, pressure on farmers has increased. The European Green Deal, launched by the EU Commission in 2019, aims to make Europe the “first climate-neutral continent” and has a strong emphasis on a sustainable food system transition. For agriculture, the EU Green Deal plans to reduce at least 20% of the use of chemical fertilizers and reduce 50% of the use of pesticides and antimicrobials among other measures (SciencesPo). However, those these goals are noble, the EU Green Deal clashes with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a “partnership between agriculture and society, and between Europe and its farmers” launched in 1962 with recent changes taken place in 2017 and 2018 (EU Commission). Funding and environmental priorities are not aligned in the two policy frameworks mentioned above. For example, while the EU Green Deal includes the objective to reduce by “50% the use and the risk of chemical pesticides by 2030,” the CAP reform fails to provide similar targets and thus there is no compliance for EU member states to truly monitor their pesticide use.
These confusing expectations and new regulations imposed on farmers in France and the other EU Member States have led to massive protests. Attempts have been made to collaborate among stakeholders. On Saturday February 24th, during the annual trade fair for agriculture, though a formal debate was to be held between Emmanuel Macron and the country’s farmers, before the official opening, hundreds of people led by farmers from the National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions (FNSEA) and other organizations forcefully entered the Paris Expo at the Porte de Versailles. Despite this, French President Emmanuel Macron spent thirteen hours exchanging with the country’s farmers.
During this long day, President Macron pledged to introduce an emergency treasury plan to support French farmers. He also alluded to setting “floor prices” (not a new concept, introduced in the CAP) which would aim to incapsulate the production cost of the good sold (IDDRI). Emmanuel Macron further announced that agriculture was of “interet general majeur” for the country, meaning that farmers’ labor would be recognized as an integral part of the country’s interests. The president’s pledges were overall perceived positively as they value farmers and acknowledge how important their work is for the country. Despite these promises, the agricultural crisis doesn’t seem to end.
President Macron at the Salon d'Agriculture (Le Monde)
One reason for the continued clashes between farmers that are struggling to make ends meet and government bodies pushing for an accelerated ecological transition is the speed at which policies and regulations are evolving making it near impossible for farmers to keep track and keep up with changes and creating confusing communications from the government. Florian Mante, economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and assistant professor at HEC, exemplifies this phenomenon: “Making risky investments, for example to turn a farm to produce organic food, or use less chemical fertilizers, is more difficult for farmers when they lack visibility of the size of their potential markets five years from now.”
After learning more and more about this topic from different sources, from President Macron’s speeches to testimonies of desperate farmers, I asked my professor, Monsieur Mante, how we can find common ground between improving farmers' quality of life and achieving an ecological transition that is needed. Ultimately, it’s challenging to do so. Professor Mante explains that in fact farmers are not fervently against the environmental transition because “they know that this the only thing that can guarantee them and their children a sustainable income in the future.” Moreover, to support farmers, Professor Mante underscores that “support measures to change practices must be stable, readable, and targeted.” As mentioned earlier, how can we expect farmers to adopt and abide by measures to achieve a swift ecological transition if the government incentives and aid are not explicit nor reliable? Finally, to ensure all parties (the farmers and governing bodies) are on the same page and ready to collaborate to realize a more sustainable industry, farmers must get paid the wages they deserve. Professor Mante underlines that “making sure the remuneration from the agro-industry, the private sector, to the farmers, is fair to the quality of the product and the work done” is crucial.
From my observations and Florian Mante’s acute commentary on the situation, more collaboration among farmers and the government (in France, in Europe, and across the world as protests multiply like in India) is needed to successfully take on initiatives to achieve an ecological transition. But not any kind of communication: one where farmers have a platform to be heard to express their concerns and one where the government can clearly articulate environmental policies and support including subsidies.
Florian Mante, policy analyst at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Guest Lecturer at HEC kindly accepted my interview request for this article. The views of Florian Mante expressed in this article reflect his own thoughts and are not in any case those of his organization.
