AgroParisTech Joins Other Agricultural Education Establishments to Contribute to the Draft Agreement and Legislation on the Future of Farming
April 06 2023Within the next ten years, 166,000 farmers—over a third—are due to retire, and the agricultural sector is struggling to recruit staff. This comes at a time when society and agricultural workers are facing a considerable and unprecedented number of challenges in relation to the climate, the economy, the environment, health, and society. France’s food sovereignty will depend on the capacity of farm workers in the coming years to deal with these challenges, and they will require a great deal of support to do so.
Within the next ten years, 166,000 farmers—over a third—are due to retire, and the agricultural sector is struggling to recruit staff. This comes at a time when society and agricultural workers are facing a considerable and unprecedented number of challenges in relation to the climate, the economy, the environment, health, and society. France’s food sovereignty will depend on the capacity of farm workers in the coming years to deal with these challenges, and they will require a great deal of support to do so.
As announced by the French President on September 9, 2022, an agreement and a new agricultural framework act on the future of farming are currently being prepared to meet the challenge of generational renewal. To this end, a large-scale consultation has been launched at a national and regional level, as well as, specifically, in agricultural colleges and universities.
Two days of discussions were organized, the first on March 23 at the AgroParisTech campus in Palaiseau (Essonne, France), and the second on April 4 at the Bougainville campus in Brie-Comte-Robert (Seine-et-Marne, France), which brought together learners and students from the region’s agricultural colleges.
After hearing the perspectives offered by AgroParisTech experts, the young attendees were encouraged to discuss their points of view on three topics, mirroring the national and regional working groups, and participated in workshops with a diverse selection of learners and students:
- Orientation and education;
- Getting started as a farmer and selling a farm;
- Adapting and changing in response to climate change.
At the end of these events, their thoughts on the issues involved in the agreement and law on the future of farming were presented and compared to those of the farming profession and local stakeholders.
A summary of the needs expressed by the students and stakeholders, as well as their definitive propositions, will be used to contribute to the consultation work conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.