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Principality of Andorra promotes sustainable agriculture

17.10.2019

To the broader European public, the Principality of Andorra is mostly known as a far-away place in the Pyrenean valley, most notable for being a skiing destination and a shopping haven for tourists. Andorra is located in an exceptional mountainous environment, with high air and water quality, with almost 15 percent of its territory being protected and forests covering 35 percent of it.

The relation of Andorra’s inhabitants with the natural environment, especially the mountains, is ever-present, influencing their daily life, outdoor-oriented leisure activities and their means of generating income. Andorra thrives because of its natural capital, both in terms of agriculture and tourism. Tourism represents 60 percent of Andorra’s gross domestic products (GDP). Thus, Andorra is extremely conscious of the fact that the natural environment must be preserved for its inherent and aesthetic value, and the ecoservices it provides to its community, visitors and the larger, global environment.

However, Andorra’s economic dependency on tourism also meant that the financial crisis at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and the ensuing global recession, affected Andorra quite strongly. It became necessary for the government to design innovative strategies to transition toward a more diversified and sustainable model of income-generation.

Andorra’s Department of Agriculture has been contributing in a remarkable and consistent way to diversifying Andorra’s economy while protecting the mountainous landscape. Only one percent of Andorra’s GDP comes from the agricultural sector, yet it is essential for protecting local biodiversity, the landscape and the culture of the country, which encompass both modernity and centuries-old traditions. Thus, the Department of Agriculture recognizes the significance of Andorran agricultural products.

In an effort to support Andorran agriculture and traditions, the Department of Agriculture decided to grant official recognition to high-quality Andorran products. The process of doing so began with establishing necessary regulatory framework at the state level. Success began with the passing of the Law on Agriculture and Husbandry, 2000, which is the general framework that allowed the development of several regulations to produce high-quality local food products. This resulted in the creation of the country’s first food label for meat and meat products, called “Carn de qualitat controlada d’Andorra”. The label guarantees that certain standards were met in the raising of the animals: they must be fed with quality-controlled food and be free-grazing during summer and autumn. In addition, producers carrying the label on their products are eligible for financial aid from the government so that they can subsidize their products, selling them at a competitive rate.

This first step of involving national authorities was crucial to the success of a certification scheme in Andorra. It paved the way for other quality certifications, such as Andorran wine and honey, and designed a strategy for the country’s rural sector to diversify and consolidate.

Subsequently, in 2014, the Department of Agriculture created the “Productes Agrícoles i Artesans d’Andorra” brand in an effort to unite various mountain microbusinesses with common features. The brand encompasses products born out of sustainable agricultural practices that merge innovative entrepreneurship and microbusinesses.

The “Productes Agricoles i Artesans d’Andorra” brand is now synonymous with mountains and small-scale, sustainable and environmentally conscious production. In only four years, the brand has created a catalogue of 21 mountain microbusinesses and their products, which are selected for how they invoke the values of the brand and add value to Andorra’s agriculture sector.

The most recent action taken by the Government of Andorra was the 2018 adoption of a regulation of the ecological production and quality of agricultural products. The regulation’s goal is to certify the organic quality of products harvested or produced in Andorra, as well as those that use Andorran food products or are produced on the basis of traditional recipes.

A next step for Andorran food quality schemes could be the inclusion of a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) within its system of organic certification, such as the Mountain Partnership Global Mountain PGS Network. In the future, many Andorran products could become part of the Mountain Partnership Product (MPP) initiative. The PGS may be especially beneficial for a country like Andorra: a small, mountainous region where the importance of community and tradition is as important as the need to develop based on the most quality efficient certification system.

In 2019, the Department of Agriculture of Andorra agreed to offer strategic support to the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS), officially becoming a ‘Champion for Mountains’. As part of its support, the Department of Agriculture is loaning an Andorran government official to strengthen the capacity of the MPS. In parallel, over the next two and a half years, the Government of Andorra will support several events to lend maximum assistance to the actions and priorities of the Mountain Partnership (MP).

Photo from Patricia Quillacq