Greening, new frontiers for research and employment in the agro-food sector

The “greening” of the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is meant to protect and enhance biodiversity as well as to make food production more sustainable by encouraging, for example, the responsible use of natural resources. The “greening” process seems to be driven by, first of all, the policy push through various policy and regulatory measures. Farmers have to invest time and resources in maintaining permanent grasslands, practice crop diversification and manage ecological focus areas for which they will receive compensation from the EU. “Greening” is also driven by the consumer or market pull generated by preferences for more sustainably produced food and sustainability initiatives along the agro-food chain. EU investments in research and development activities are required for the successful implementation of greening practices. Professionals from different disciplines are called upon to provide, in the next few years, solutions for all the new requirements in order to realize a sustainable and socially and economically healthy agricultural system. Besides this, farmers need support to implement and manage greening measures, but also to reap the benefits of their investments by networking and engaging with stakeholders higher in the agro-food chain, such as retailers and supermarkets. This is not only to assure sustainability at processing, packaging and storage, but also to increase visibility of farmers' practices to consumers through communication that may help influencing consumers' choices. These factors are currently not given the importance they need by the EU, but are crucial for a successful “greening”.