PLANNING ahead
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food is working to ensure greater efficiency in the market to improve the operations of the entire food chain and modernize the sector.
In these three years at the helm of the ministry, how has the sector evolved, and what proposals have been put in place to boost its activities?
In the worst months of COVID-19, the entire chain from farmers, ranchers, and fishermen to cooperatives and the processing industry and distribution, did not fail, and there has been food of sufficient quality and quantity to not only supply the local market, but also for export.
The agri-food sector has given a lesson of strength in the crisis. Now, new opportunities are opening up thanks to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan that will promote the ecological and digital transformation of the sector. We will work to promote the transformation and competitiveness of the sector so that it can further consolidate this strategic position and, at the same time, face new challenges and challenges.
To achieve this, we will look at a more balanced development of the agri-food chain, through the reform of the law that regulates it to strengthen transparency and the best distribution of value. At the same time, the security of the weakest link in this chain, the farmers and ranchers, is reinforced.
In addition, we are working on the application of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with the preparation of the Strategic Plan for Spain. The policy, with a budget of EUR47.724 billion for Spain (2021-2027), will allow us to have the necessary tools to start the transition from agriculture and livestock to a new production model that aims at the sustainable development of agriculture, food, and rural areas to ensure the food security of society through a competitive sector and a living rural environment. To achieve this, it is necessary to modernize the sector and promote knowledge, innovation and digitization, so that farms develop their full potential, and I am firmly committed to this task.
Spain is a country firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals framed in the UN 2030 Agenda. What specific plans is the ministry carrying out here?
Sustainable fishing is an essential tool for the fulfillment not only of SDG 14 on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, but also of the integrity of the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, this agenda constitutes a clear example how the three pillars—environmental, economic, and social—have to be in step if you want to be successful.
Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture have a high degree of interconnection with most of the objectives and goals that make up the agenda.
In line with the necessary supply of a growing population, but also with the most absolute respect for the environment that surrounds us, in the next three years the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will modernize more than 100,000ha of irrigation, so that they are increasingly effective; works aimed at reducing water consumption and improving energy efficiency. These investments will have a financial impact of more than EUR700 million, the largest public injection into irrigation in recent decades, and will contribute to two specific objectives of the 2030 Agenda, number two for zero hunger through sustainable food production and number sox for clean water and sanitation.
How does the ministry propose to manage the EU Funds so that they achieve the objectives set by European institutions?
The new CAP application model, which will allocate just over 40% of its budget to climate actions, will guarantee environmental sustainability, as well as the economic and social sustainability of agricultural holdings.
The Next Generation EU program will allow Spain to have a significant additional financing of about EUR140,000 million between credits and grants for the coming years.
The plan for Spain contains various measures that will decisively contribute to improving the competitiveness, resilience, and adaptation of agricultural holdings to the new challenges posed after the pandemic. Within this framework, the ministry is responsible for the environmental and digital transformation component of the agri-food and fishing system, which expects to mobilize more than EUR1.5 billion between European and private funds until 2023, with 11 investment plans and six major legislative reforms.