18 June 2020, Madrid -Luis Planas is the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain, as well as member of the FAO Advisory Group.

Planas highlights the role played by food security and the right to food in our lifes, which depend on food production, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown. Therefore, it must be a priority to promote “the normal supply of affordable food along with a healthy, sufficient, safe and balanced diet”. The agrifood sector is key in Spain. But not just any price.

The Government  of Spain seeks to achieve sustainability economically, socially and environmentally, since it is an “immediate challenge”. The transformation of agrifood systems requires promoting the rural environment, innovation and inclusion, through participation of women and youth.

Spain has a long history of collaboration with FAO, becoming a strategic partner in the global fight against hunger and poverty. What has that commitment and cooperation translated into? What are the prospects for the future?

Luis Planas: Spain has been closely collaborating with FAO for almost 70 years. This strong relationship has developed with increasing commitments over time, both in terms of efficiency and budget. To such an extent, that today, our country can be considered a strategic partner of FAO.

Since 2000, Spain has made economic contributions of more than 356 million euros towards the fight against hunger, for access to water and land tenure and their sustainable management. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food itself contributes 12 international grants destined at different FAO programs, amounting to over 1 million Euro.

Even so, Spain can optimize its engagement with FAO and continue providing experience, work and funding to global challenges in the field of agrifood, in which the country is a leader. This includes irrigation technologies, fisheries sustainability, greenhouse cultivation, precision agriculture or 'smart farming', insurance, sustainable local development or promoting the participation of women in decision-making.

Our increased presence in the Organization can also contribute to multilateral and international relations –which we strongly support- thanks to our geographical proximity to Africa and our cultural and linguistic linkages with Latin America.

According to FAO data, 90% of fisherfolk operate on a small scale, and around 80% of land worldwide is occupied by family farmers. Could you describe what are the features and requirements of small producers in Spain? How do the food policy and rural development agenda take into account their needs?

LP: Fisheries, our inshore and artisanal fleet, made up of small-scale family-owned vessels, coexist with large factory ships that operate in all the seas on the planet. Environmental sustainability is already a hallmark of Spanish fisheries worldwide. This forces us now to promote sustainability from a social and economic point of view. In this sense, the role of FAO is key to ensure that fisheries and aquaculture is not missed in the Blue Economy. For this reason, Spain is willing to collaborate with the FAO in the opportunity that 2022 offers us, designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, to give visibility to this sector.

And, as in the rest of the world, family farming represents the vast majority of farms, forming the basis of our rural environment.

Overall, Spanish agrifood is made up of around 900,000 farms and more than 31,000 food companies. 80% of them have no more than 10 workers, but their leadership in global markets, their contribution to the economy and employment and their status as the main economic activity in rural areas make them strategically important.

The immediate challenge is to achieve sustainability economically, socially and environmentally.

From the economic point of view, recently we have amended the Food Chain Law to prevent sales below the cost of production. We want to encourage organizations, especially cooperatives, to increase their powers of negotiation and producers to be more competitive.

The economic profitability of farms is an essential condition to ensure the social sustainability of the rural world. In short, it is about generating an adequate standard of living that is attractive to the population. And, in this sense, I believe that initiatives such as the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2018-2028 promote progress for family farming around the world.

Environmental sustainability is a necessary requirement for the planet. Spain, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Green Pact of the European Union, is strongly committed and interested in the fight against climate change. It is a global challenge that requires a profound transformation of the world's food and agricultural systems.

Research, innovation and new technologies offer us a great opportunity to combine this double challenge of increasing both productivity and the sustainability of agriculture. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary, as well as unstoppable, to promote digitalization towards an economically viable, sustainable and consumer-oriented agriculture.

We are aware of the importance of promoting the use of new innovative and digital tools in the agrifood sector and in rural areas to continue producing more with less and to face the challenge of depopulation that affects a large part of our rural territory.

Rural youth is the future of food security and more sustainable production. However, it seems that few young people envisage a future in rural areas. Similarly, women face many obstacles for their livelihoods in this sector. What measures is Spain taking to ensure opportunities for these groups in view of a future with an adequate standard of living and more sustainable production?

LP: 84% of the territory of Spain are rural areas, but only 16% are populated. Therefore, our rural environment suffers a significant threat of depopulation and is masculinized and aged, as it is mainly abandoned by young people and women.

In the fight against this depopulation, we are aware that it is necessary to attract young men and women by reducing the digital gap and building complex, adaptive, efficient, competitive and sustainable territories that require great funding. In this sense, Spain is one of the countries of the European Union that has most advocated for the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) through the Innovation Operational Groups.

Currently, we are financially promoting, through the National Rural Development Program, employment through innovative solutions in the agrifood sector and in rural areas.

In addition, the Government of Spain has the Strategy for Digitalization of the agrifood and forestry sectors and rural areas, a pioneer at European level, towards the reduction of the digital gap, the use of data and driving business development.

We consider that the role of women is fundamental in rural communities and, therefore, it cannot be dissociated from agrifood policies. We are a global beacon in relation to the recognition of their equal rights and have incorporated positive actions, such as promoting their access to ownership of farms, in order to grant them visibility and, above all, their rights, as well as integrating the gender perspective in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We believe that FAO can and should play a very active role in ensuring the participation of women in all decision-making spaces, not only as primary producers, but as leaders of their communities.