Speeches

Madam President, the importance of the agricultural sector lies in a reality that cannot be ignored. According to FAO, by 2050, the world's population will be 10 billion, which means a population increase of 2 billion. At the same time, data shows that currently, globally, 33 million people cannot afford a hot meal every two days. Demand for food will increase in the future, and the soil, which is a scarce resource, will have to provide on that area, or sometimes even less, higher production. The agricultural sector is complicated and, I would say, not very manageable. Agricultural production is mostly dependent on weather and climate conditions and is therefore one of the most vulnerable sectors. In this context, the biggest challenge will be for the agricultural sector in the European Union and worldwide to adapt to climate change, which requires the adoption of practices with minimal environmental impact. Farmers around the world will face a double challenge: firstly, to achieve high yields, and secondly, to protect nature and biodiversity, objectives that can only be achieved through the deployment of innovative technologies. At the same time, we must be aware of the difficulties that small and medium-sized farmers face in developing sustainable farms or structures. Their importance is overwhelming in the agricultural ecosystem and in what it means to fight hunger, but without the implementation of modern, applied and advanced technologies that allow high-quality production, these farms will not be able to survive. However, we must start from another undeniable reality, namely that investing in these technologies is expensive. Today, many farmers, especially small and medium-sized ones, cannot afford their purchase, which makes it necessary to associate in agriculture to develop sustainable farming systems, and the Member States and the European Commission must financially incentivise this. The European Union must become a global food supplier in order to effectively combat global hunger.