The document discusses the European Commission's views on establishing sustainable food systems through research and innovation priorities under Horizon Europe Cluster 6. It outlines challenges to the current EU food system in the areas of social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and economic sustainability. It then discusses research and innovation priorities that can help meet ambitious targets in these areas to mitigate climate change, protect the environment, ensure food security and public health, and establish competitive and affordable sustainable food systems. The priorities focus on issues like climate-smart farming, agroecology, biodiversity, organic agriculture, fair economic returns, food safety, and international partnerships.

1. Researchand
Innovation
THE EU
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
PROGRAMME
2021 – 2027
DG Agriculture and Rural Development
KERSTIN ROSENOW
Head of Research and Innovation Unit

2. The views of the Commission
for food systems transformation
HORIZON EUROPE CLUSTER 6

3. Economic sustainability
Social
sustainability Environmental
sustainability
SFS
Eco-
social
progress
Green
growth
Inclusiveg
rowth
Competitiveness
Food affordability
Commercial viability & profits
Fair share of added value
Jobs
Income
Inclusiveness – just transition
Public heath & nutrition
Food safety & food security Vital
rural/coastal areas &
farming/fishing communities
Animal welfare
Biodiversity
Climate change mitigation
Reduction of food loss
and waste
Zero pollution
Soil health
Source: Adapted from FAO, 2014 and SAM, 2020
Sustainable food systems (SFS): definition

4. Challenges to the EU food system
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
Healthier diets –
reduce overweight
Fairer incomes for
farmers & fishers
Improve
animal
welfare
Just
transition
Food
affordability New business & job
opportunities
Reduce food losses and
waste
Tackle climate
change
Protect the
environment
Preserve
biodiversity
Social rights
workers in food
chain

5. CLIMATE
PACT AND CLIMATE
LAW
INVESTINGIN
SMARTER, MORE
SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT
STRIVING
FOR GREENER
INDUSTRY
ELIMINATING
POLLUTION
ENSURING
A JUST TRANSITION
FOR ALL
FINANCING
GREEN
PROJECTS
MAKING
HOMES ENERGY EFFICIENT
LEADING THE
GREEN CHANGE
GLOBALLY
FROM FARM
TO FORK
PROTECTING NATURE
PROMOTING
CLEAN
ENERGY
The European
Green Deal
Cluster 6
&

6. Establish sustainable food systems that:
… has neutral or positive environmental impact of food production:
• preserving and restoring the land and sea-based resources
• mitigating climate change and adapting to its impact
• protecting land, soil, water, air, plant and animal health
• reversing the loss of biodiversity
… ensures food security and public health:
• ensuring access for everyone to sufficient, nutritious, sustainable food
• ensuring high standards of safety and quality, plant health, animal health and welfare
… preserves the affordability of food, while (a.o.):
• generating fairer economic returns and promoting fair trade
• fostering the competitiveness sector and leading the global transition towards
competitive sustainability from farm to fork
• safeguarding occupational health and safety
• creating new business opportunities
• ensuring integrity of the single market
• so ultimately the most sustainable food becomes the most affordable
… are robust and resilient

7. R&I as key enablers for ambitious targets
-50% -50% -50% 25%
…by 2030
= 9 years
= 9 growing seasons
+10% +3 bln -55% 100%

8. …mitigating climate change and adapting to its impact
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems that has
neutral or positive environmental impact of food production
-55%
• Demonstration network on climate-smart farming
- boosting the role of advisory services
- linking pilot farms
• Agroecological approaches, including agroforestry, for climate change
mitigation, resilient agricultural production and enhanced biodiversity
• Fostering the resilience of agricultural production: from observation of
changes to the development of resilience strategies
• Resilient livestock farming systems under climate change

9. …protecting land, soil, water, air and reversing the loss of biodiversity
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems that has
neutral or positive environmental impact of food production
• Intercropping – understanding and using the benefits of complexity in farming
and value chains
• Boosting breeding for a sustainable, resilient and competitive European legume
sector
• Breeding for resilience: focus on root-based traits
• Fostering organic crop breeding
• Maintaining and restoring pollinators and pollination services
in European agricultural landscapes
• Resilient beekeeping
-50% -50%
25%
+10%

10. …protecting land, soil, water, air and reversing the loss of biodiversity
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems that has
neutral or positive environmental impact of food production
• Reaching the farm to fork target: R&I scenarios for boosting organic farming
and organic aquaculture in Europe
• Developing sustainable and competitive land-based protein crop systems
and value chains
• Optimisation of nutrient budget in agriculture
• Smart solutions for the use of digital technologies for small- and medium-sized,
farms and farm structures
• Potential of drones as multi-purpose vehicle – risks and added values
• Assessing the impacts of digital technologies in agriculture – cost, benefits and
potential for sustainability gains
-50% -50%
25%
+10%

11. …protecting land, soil, water, air and reversing the loss of biodiversity
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems that has
neutral or positive environmental impact of food production
-50% -50%
25%
+10%
Partnership: Accelerating farming systems transitions:
agroecology living labs & research infrastructures
Partnership: Agriculture of data
Mission
on soil health and food

12. …generating fairer economic returns and promoting fair trade
…creating new business opportunities and fostering the competitiveness sector
…so ultimately the most sustainable food becomes the most affordable
…safeguarding occupational health and safety
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems
that preserves the affordability of food
• Uncovering lock-ins and levers to encourage farmers to move to and stay in sustainable, climate-neutral and
biodiversity-friendly farming systems: from experiments to systemic mechanism
• Towards an EU approach to assess and internalise positive and negative externalities of food for incentivising
sustainable choices
• Socio-economics of pesticide use in agriculture
• Innovative tools and methods to evaluate the design and support, monitoring and implementation of effective CAP
strategic plans
• EU agriculture within a safe and just operating space and planetary boundaries
• Assessing and improving labour conditions and health and safety at work in farming

13. R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems
that ensures food security and public health
…ensuring access for everyone to sufficient, nutritious, sustainable food
…ensuring high standards of safety and quality, plant health, animal health and welfare
-50%
-50%
25%
• Social innovation in food sharing to strengthen urban communities’ food resilience
• Evidence-based decision-making to change social norms towards zero food waste
• Building alternative protein-friendly sustainable and healthy food environments
• Transition to healthy and sustainable dietary behavior
• Identification, assessment and management of existing and emerging
food safety issues
• Agroecological approaches for sustainable weed management
• Emerging and future risks to plant health
• Risk assessment of new low risk pesticides
• Vaccines and diagnostics for priority animal diseases
• Enhancing biosecurity in terrestrial livestock production
• Animal welfare 2.0

14. R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems
that ensures food security and public health
…ensuring access for everyone to sufficient, nutritious, sustainable food
…ensuring high standards of safety and quality, plant health, animal health and welfare
-50%
Partnership:
Animals health and welfare
Partnership:
Safe and sustainable food systems
for people, planet and climate

15. …leading the global transition towards competitive sustainability from farm to fork
R&I priorities to establish sustainable food systems
that preserves the affordability of food
• EU-Africa R&I Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security
and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA)
- Agro-ecological approaches in African agriculture systems
- One Health approach for Food Nutrition Security and
Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA)
- Combatting all forms of malnutrition
• EU-China FAB
- Integrated pest management in agriculture
- Nature-based solutions for nutrient management in agriculture
• International research consortia (IRC):
• STAR-IDAZ on animal health
• a new IRC in the area of soil and carbon
-50%
25%
-50%
-50%

16. Systemic approach at program level

17. Systemic approach at program level
Impact 1 Climate neutrality and adaptation to climate change
Impact 2 Preservation and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems
Impact 3 Sustainable and circular management of natural resources;
tackling pollution; bioeconomy
Impact 4 Food and nutrition security for all
from sustainable food systems from farm to fork
Impact 5 Balanced development of rural, coastal and urban areas
Impact 6 Innovative governance models enabling sustainability,
environmental observation
Environmental Observation
Biodiversity
and Natural Resources
Agriculture, Forestry
and Rural Areas
Seas, Oceans
and Inland Waters
Food Systems
Circular Systems
Bio-based Innovation Systems
in the EU Bioeconomy
Intervention Areas

18. Systemic approach at project level
Interdisciplinary
and transdisciplinary R&I
Multi-actor approach

19. Boosting implementation: EIP-AGRI
Farm policy
(CAP)
R&I
programme
(Horizon
2020)
Local innovation projects
(EIP-AGRI Operational groups)
(+/- 2000)
Transnational R&I
(multi-actor)
projects
190 – 1 bn€
Transnational
Thematic networks
40 – 80 M€
EU EIP-AGRI networking
activities:
- Focus groups
- Knowledge exchange
- Web platform

20. • Improving preparation of multi-actor projects to enable
the relevant actors to work in a co-creative way
• Thematic networks to compile and share knowledge
ready for practice
• Broaden EIP Operational Group outcomes across
borders by means of thematic networks, compiling and
sharing knowledge ready for practice
• Developing EU advisory networks
• Supporting knowledge exchange between all AKIS actors
in the Member States by means of an EU-wide interactive
knowledge reservoir
Boosting implementation: AKIS

21. Cluster 6 Work Programme 2021-2022: 15 June
wp-9-food-bioeconomy-natural-resources-agriculture-and-
environment_horizon-2021-2022_en.pdf (europa.eu)

22. Thank you
HORIZON EUROPE CLUSTER 6