Copa-Cogeca has called on the European Union to allow the cultivation of crops on all available lands this year to offset the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The representative body for farmers and cooperatives in Europe said that “everything must be done to prevent disruptions in supply chains, which will inevitably lead to shortages in certain parts of the world”.
“This is an essential question of food sovereignty and democratic stability. A paradigm shift is needed in the way Brussels thinks about agriculture, starting with the objectives set out in the Farm to Fork.
“Farmers and cooperatives are now waiting for concrete guidelines and actions as a solution to food, energy, climate and environmental challenges,” the group outlined in a statement.
The president of Copa-Cogeca, Christiane Lambert, claimed that the Russian government is using food security as a weapon which must be countered with a “food shield”.
“As with energy, in agriculture we strongly believe that it is possible to strengthen our strategic autonomy while continuing to make progress on sustainability.
“We need to rearm our agriculture today to face these two major crises at the same time: The war in Ukraine and climate change,” Lambert explained.
The body said that it is expecting “comprehensive, robust, out-of-the-box measures” to the humanitarian and economic disaster from the EU Commission tomorrow (March 8).
The comments come ahead of a meeting between Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue and farming organisations also due to be held tomorrow.
It is understood that McConalogue will outline details of a crop-planting scheme for all farmers for fears over food security.
Copa-Cogeca
Meanwhile, Copa-Cogeca said that the solidarity of the farming community with the Ukrainian people is “real and visible” in all EU member states.
“Farmers are starting to welcome refugees to their farms, the first convoys organised by farmers are on their way, along with food, supplies and financial donations,” it added.
Over the coming days, the Ukrainian agricultural organisation UNAF (Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum) is set to join the European body.
Commenting on the development, Ramon Armengol, Cogeca president said: “Welcoming our Ukrainian colleagues to Copa and Cogeca is the natural extension of this expression of solidarity that is taking place on the ground by farmers and their cooperatives.
“The European farming community is mobilising at all levels to provide concrete support to the Ukrainian people and refugees arriving in all member states,” Armengol concluded.