Synthèse de la conférence MedClimat2024 “Une Méditerranée en mouvement : nourrir et s’adapter face au changement climatique”
The Mediterranean is facing major climate and environmental challenges that threaten its agriculture and food security. In response to this emergency, the FARM Foundation, as part of the AACC-Med project, CIHEAM, and iReMMO Alumni organized the MedClimat2024 conference on December 17, 2024, at the Climate Academy in Paris. This conference brought together experts, stakeholders from the agricultural sector, and decision-makers to discuss the necessary levers for adaptation and cooperation. This summary, the result of the discussions and reflections held during this half-day, highlights the crucial issues facing the region and the avenues for action to build a sustainable and resilient agricultural future. Discover the highlights of this essential meeting for the future of the Mediterranean.
"It is important to position the issues of sustainable food, adaptation to climate change, and food security at the heart of a positive agenda for cooperation in the Mediterranean. […] We need to come together around unifying issues." It is with these engaging words that SE Karim Amellal, French Ambassador and Interministerial Delegate for the Mediterranean, opened the MedClimat2024 Conference, alongside M. Teodoro Miano, Secretary General of CIHEAM and Mrs. Catherine Migault, Director of the FARM Foundation. All three recalled the food security challenges specific to the Mediterranean basin and expressed the urgency of strengthening cooperation between these countries. The region is warming on average 20 % faster than the rest of the planet; it is no longer just a question of slowing climate change but also of adapting our agriculture to the new climatic conditions today.
Producing under constraints: the Mediterranean facing change climate
In an introductory keynote, Serge Zaka, agroclimatologist and president of AgroClimat2050, recalled the current and future climate variations in the Mediterranean and the impacts they will have on agriculture. For example, in recent years, we have seen more frequent and intense droughts in the Mediterranean basin. These changes imply variations in crop distribution areas, as presented in the white paper The urgency of adaptation carried out as part of the AACC-Med project, coordinated by the FARM Foundation. Olive cultivation could become impossible in Tunisia by 2100, while wine-growing land will shrink in the Mediterranean, and could even disappear in North Africa, Andalusia, parts of Italy and Greece. These particularly worrying consequences call into question both agricultural and food practices (see the book by CIHEAM Sustainable Food Systems: Change of Route in the Mediterranean), Mediterranean food security and with it the processes of competition or cooperation.
Producing sustainably: what future for food systems? Mediterranean?
The first round table, “Producing under constraints: the Mediterranean facing climate change”, moderated by Precila Rambhunjun, responsible for climate-resilience projects at the FARM Foundation, brought together Lydia Merrouche, director and founder of Fossoul and urban agriculture consultant (Algeria, France), Paul Reder, breeder and winegrower in Hérault (France) and member of a CIVAM (Center for initiatives to promote agriculture and the rural environment) and Vanessa Riou, director of Farming Spirit and member of the National Council for Food Resilience (CNRA) (France).
This roundtable aimed to explore the challenges faced by producers in the multi-constrained Mediterranean region. Vanessa Riou and Paul Reder discussed the tensions facing the wine sector, both due to increasing droughts and heat waves and late frost episodes. These new conditions are causing changes in the organoleptic properties of wines, as well as changes in harvesting habits and oenological work, as Vanessa Riou pointed out. Faced with a difficult pedoclimatic context, Paul Reder confided that he had to restructure his farm, forced to abandon certain plots due to a lack of water and to opt for diversification with the reintroduction of livestock farming since 2007. On the other side of the Mediterranean, Lydia Merrouche presented her own experience in organic farming and the revaluation of this production through short supply chains in Algeria. To cope with the lack of water, Lydia Merrouche presented how she “educates” her seeds to make them more resistant to water stress. His successful experience in Algeria allowed him to create a farm on the rooftops of Marseille.
The two farmers emphasized that gender issues are at the heart of the necessary transformations in the sector. Some agricultural tools are still not adapted for women, such as the exoskeletons used in vineyards, whose ergonomics do not take into account the female morphology (e.g., the breast). The issue of the arduousness of agricultural work, exacerbated by climate change, particularly rising temperatures, was also raised.
Our speakers converged on the importance of improving farmer training by further integrating sustainability and climate change adaptation issues. While many technical solutions exist, their dissemination needs to be improved through training and cooperation. Paul Reder is carrying out this work of exchanges and reflections at the level of a CIVAM (Community for the Promotion of Agricultural and Rural Development), which brings together farmers to work collectively on the agroecological transition. All three also raised the problems of financing and remuneration for producers in a sector facing a growing loss of attractiveness and an aging workforce. In this regard, the importance of public action was highlighted, along with the need for a more forward-looking and planning approach. Solutions such as micro-financing or the takeover of historically monoculture farms by several partners and their conversion to diversification were also discussed by the panel. Finally, Vanessa Riou highlighted the importance of educating and directing consumers toward food produced from crops that are more adapted and resilient to the future climates of each region. In this regard, she recalled that the CNRA works to support all stakeholders in the chain through several educational tools. A systemic vision from field to fork is shared by Lydia Merrouche, who creates recipes based on organic and seasonal products from her farm. This discussion led to the question of fair compensation for producers who must face increasing production costs and climate risks.
Between competition and tensions, what levers for cooperation?
The second round table, “Between competition and tensions, what levers for cooperation?”, moderated by Claire Maréchal, project manager at CIHEAM, brought together Mouin Hamze, former director of CNRS-Lebanon and coordinator of the BEANS Meta Network, Bruno Lepoivre, Pacifica's director of net zero and social commitments, Riad Balaghi, project manager at INRA Morocco and project director at the AAA initiative, and Guénaël le Guilloux, Director General of AGROPOL.
The objective of this roundtable was to outline how current constraints (environmental, economic, social, and geopolitical) impact the Mediterranean trade area and to provide answers on how to recreate cooperation between the different stakeholders in food systems. The speakers highlighted the success of cooperation projects promoting Mediterranean food systems despite the tensions dividing the region. This is particularly the case of the BEANS Meta Network project presented by Mouin Hamze, which promotes legumes as a product of the Mediterranean diet, both good for health and the environment. This organization connects the various existing networks ranging from producers, distributors, research institutes, and institutional bodies working on food security issues in the Mediterranean. Guénaël le Guilloux presented the projects led by AGROPOL, an association working for international cooperation in the French oilseed and protein sector. Through field studies and the creation of partnerships between the various stakeholders in the sector, its development is carried out while taking into account the challenges and needs of each stakeholder. Through inter-shore exchanges, AGROPOL promotes the sharing of experiences and best practices between the different Mediterranean shores.
Bruno Lepoivre also addressed the challenges of insurance in the agricultural sector. While farmers are increasingly insured in the countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, this is less the case on the eastern and southern shores. The high cost of insurance and the lack of means of a significant proportion of farmers are a barrier to their participation. Nevertheless, Bruno Lepoivre reminded us of the importance of insurance for farmers, firstly to insure their crops, which are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, but also to facilitate access to bank loans, sometimes conditional on taking out agricultural insurance. The sustainability of this insurance sector in the face of the increasing frequency and intensity of climatic events was raised by Bruno Lepoivre, who pointed out that Public-Private Partnerships are becoming necessary to enable risk bearing and dissemination to as many people as possible. In the Mediterranean region, insurance could also serve as a lever for cooperation between agricultural stakeholders (producers, cooperatives, manufacturers, public authorities, and insurers). In conclusion to this roundtable, Mouin Hamze and Riad Balaghi discussed the importance of scientific cooperation between the countries of the basin, the exchange of know-how, and more resilient seeds. Riad Balaghi highlighted the revaluation of traditional know-how as a strategy for adapting to climate change, as promoted within the adaptation projects led by the AAA Initiative.
A committed Mediterranean
Matthew Brun, scientific director at the FARM Foundation and associate researcher at Sciences Po Bordeaux and the Institute for Research and Mediterranean Middle East Studies (iReMMO) and Yasmine Seghirate, administrator at CIHEAM, concluded this half-day of reflection together. They thus recalled the importance of cooperation, the promotion of Mediterranean youth who bring innovative ideas and are sensitive to the challenges of sustainable development, as well as the promotion of the Mediterranean diet, which is beneficial economically, environmentally and for health, but also as a cultural heritage and identity of the Mediterranean people.
The MedClimat2024 conference highlighted the urgency of collective action to adapt Mediterranean agriculture to climate challenges. Many thanks to all the speakers and the audience for their participation in these discussions, which are essential for the future of Mediterranean agriculture. The FARM Foundation, true to its mission, is actively committed to this goal through projects such as the AACC-Med (Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change in the Mediterranean).
This project aims to identify and co-construct political and financial levers to strengthen the resilience of agricultural systems to climate hazards in the region. The results of the MedClimat2024 conference will inform the next stages of the project, including the exchange of practices and adaptation strategies between the different Mediterranean shores.
Would you like to contribute to this dynamic and participate in the next stages of the AACC-Med project?
