Key Insights:
- Innovative Portal: Launch of the “France PAT” portal, a comprehensive platform for local food policies, accessible at https://france-pat.fr/.
- Key Objectives: Aims to promote relocalization, access to local, healthy, sustainable, and quality food, and supports actions for biodiversity, water, and climate.
- Target Audience: Designed for all stakeholders involved in local agricultural and food policies, including elected officials, technicians, partners, observers, and researchers.
- Comprehensive Services: Offers interactive mapping, a database with key indicators, a directory of stakeholders, a toolkit for policy support, and current news and events.
- Collaborative Effort: Managed by the “France PAT” network, in collaboration with Terres en villes and Chambres d’agriculture France, and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty and ADEME.
Introduction to the “France PAT” Portal
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, ADEME, Terres en villes, and Chambres d’agriculture France are proud to announce the launch of the “France PAT” portal. This innovative online platform, accessible at https://france-pat.fr/, is designed to centralize and streamline information regarding local food policies (PAT) across France, addressing the growing need for sustainable, locally-sourced food and the enhancement of local agricultural practices.
Objectives and Benefits
The “France PAT” portal was created in response to the complex challenges faced in relocalizing food production, improving access to healthy, sustainable, and high-quality local foods, and promoting actions that benefit biodiversity, water management, and climate. It serves as a one-stop shop for quickly identifying and understanding the territories most committed to organic farming or territorial economic sectors.
Who Can Benefit?
This platform is tailored for all actors involved in local agricultural and food policies, whether they are elected officials, technicians, partners, observers, or researchers looking to gather data on food policies.
Features and Services
The portal offers a range of services designed to support the development and implementation of local food policies:
- Interactive Mapping: Provides a comprehensive view of PAT across mainland France and overseas territories, with filters for regional, departmental, and specific PAT characteristics.
- Database: Includes key indicators and detailed information on PAT actions and themes, helping users understand the progress and challenges of different territories.
- Stakeholder Directory: Lists all stakeholders involved in PAT, from agriculture chambers to various organizations and associations.
- Toolkit: Assists PAT in their initiatives and helps elected officials, citizens, or researchers engage with PAT dynamics.
- News Section: Keeps users informed about ongoing calls for projects, events, and other relevant information.
Governance and Support
The “France PAT” portal is a collaborative effort, coordinated by the “France PAT” network, which will be led by Terres en villes and Chambres d’agriculture France in 2024 and will transition to a national network governance structure in 2025. This network, connecting 435 PAT across France, is designed to foster collective progress and is supported by funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty and ADEME.
Latest News on French Agriculture
Boosts Organic Farming with €90M Aid Amid Economic Challenges (2024/03/11)
The French government has announced a €90 million aid package for organic farms facing economic losses. The aid is available for farms committed to organic farming and undergoing conversion to organic practices. The compensation is designed to offset up to 50% of documented operational losses, with a minimum grant of €1,000 and a maximum of €30,000 per farm. The application process will open on March 14, 2024, with the online submission portal activating no later than March 25, 2024.
French Agriculture €2B Guarantee Fund for Agricultural Sector (2023/11/14)
France’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty announced a €2 billion guarantee fund to facilitate credit access for new farmer installations and investments in ecological transitions. This initiative will be part of the Agricultural Orientation and Future Pact and will be formalized in the 2024 finance bill. The fund will cover the first losses of a portfolio of agricultural loans across all sectors and aims to make credit more accessible and affordable, particularly for young farmers.
Allocates Nearly One Billion Euros to Agriculture Transition in 2024 Budget (2023/09/11)
The French government has announced an additional funding of almost €1 billion to the agriculture budget for 2024 to support sustainable agricultural practices. The budget increase represents a 15% increase on the existing budget of €5.9 billion for 2023. The funding will go towards tax incentives, land access for young farmers, ecological planning, and resilience in the face of climate change. However, some groups have criticized the lack of significant change to allow new entrants to agriculture to access land for agroecological transition.
France Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan for Agriculture (2023/06/13)
On May 22, 2023, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne presented a proposal for France’s greenhouse gas reduction to the National Council for Ecological Transition (CNTE). Her proposal, targeting a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, aligns with the broader goals of decarbonizing the economy and facilitating an ecological transition across all economic sectors and individuals. In the spirit of France’s greenhouse gas reduction, Borne announced plans for thematic meetings to deepen discussions on various topics, including one focused specifically on agriculture and food.
French Agriculture: Adjusts Cereal Export Rules, Confirms S-metolachlor Withdrawal (2023/04/26)
The French government has implemented new rules for cereal exports to third countries that require phosphine treatment and the withdrawal of S-metolachlor plant protection products. These changes were made after the French Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health & Safety altered the conditions of use for plant protection products intended for cereal storage protection, which contradicted the requirements of certain destination countries. Additionally, the French government confirmed the non-renewal of plant protection products containing S-metolachlor, and announced a strategic action plan for anticipating the withdrawal of active substances and the development of alternative crop protection techniques.
French Agriculture Faces Groundwater Levels Are 75% Below Monthly Average (2023/04/14)
In March, there was a significant amount of rainfall in some areas of the country, particularly in the western regions, after several weeks without effective rain. However, these rains had little impact on the state of the groundwater, which remains unsatisfactory in much of the country. A large part of the country, around 75%, has France’s groundwater levels below the monthly average, with many areas showing low to very low levels, according to the latest data released by the BRGM. This situation is a cause for concern, and it may lead to issues such as drought during the summer months.
Unveils a 65M Euro Agriculture Research Program (2023/01/23)
France has officially launched the Priority Research Program and Equipment (PEPR) on agroecology and digital technology, a new agriculture research program aimed at accelerating the agroecological transition in the country’s agriculture sector. The program, which is financed by the French government with 65 million euros (USD 71M) as part of France 2030, will utilize digital technology to benefit all farmers and address food security, climate, and environmental challenges.
France is Facing Unprecedented Droughts (2023/05/22)
France may face unprecedented droughts in the coming months, with 30 departments at risk. Cereals such as wheat or corn are in desperate need of water during their growth period, but the current temperatures and lack of rain have already impacted their growth. The droughts increase the risk of wildfires, and the government has allocated an additional 20 million euros to help farmers and 100 million euros for water agencies.
Bans Plastic Packaging (2022/05/09)
Barbara Pompili, the Minister for Ecological Transition, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister for the Economy, Finance and Recovery, and Julien Denormandie, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, have signed a decree that prohibits the use of plastic packaging for unprocessed fresh fruits and vegetables in France. The AGEC law of February 2020, which focuses on waste control and circular economy, mandated this move. Effective from 1st January 2022, selling fresh fruits and vegetables that are unprocessed and packaged in plastic will no longer be allowed, with a gradual phase-out of the most delicate cases. The estimated 37% of fruit and vegetable sales that currently involve packaging will see over a billion unnecessary plastic packages eliminated each year due to this measure.
Image provided by The Ministry of Agriculture, Nicolo Revelli Beaumont/agriculture.gouv.fr
