The second goal aims to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by ensuring access to safe, nutritious and adequate food for all. It calls for sustainable and resilient food production systems and agricultural practices. MDG2 can only be achieved if the targets of several other MDGs are also reached. Decision-makers have a role to play in promoting large-scale sustainable production systems and in ensuring that food markets function properly.
Goal targets
Where does France stand ?
View the latest data on SDG2 indicators
Domestic challenges
The agricultural sector’s contribution to combating climate change and preserving resources requires a concerted change in practices, particularly in terms of water management, soil cover, land use, nitrogen fertilisation, animal breeding and animal feed. The agro-ecological transition provided for in the new directives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture sets a course for France.
For example, in 2022 there were more than 60,000 organic farms (certified or in the process), i.e. 14.2% of French farms. At +3.5%, the number of producers involved in organic farming continued to rise in 2022, but at a slower rate than in 2021. Organic surface area, up 9% since 2020, reached 2.87 million hectares, i.e. 10.7% of the agricultural land. The NSP (National Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy) aims in particular to achieve 18% organic farming on agricultural land by 2027. In addition, the adoption in 2020 of the National Strategy for the Development of Plant Proteins aims to increase France’s food independence and to meet daily protein needs.
The application of these levers only makes sense if they are used by the various stakeholders involved: farms, businesses, industries, regions, not forgetting consumers. This requires a major change in the way we think, acquire knowledge and practice and requires social, technical, technological and scientific innovation, as well as collective innovation in terms of cooperation, work organisation and investment methods. To support this direction, we need to identify the winning transitions and create the conditions for integrating them into the value chain by intervening at all levels.
For all these reasons, research, agricultural education and support for farmers play a vital role..
The local level seems particularly relevant for developing a global approach to food, where agricultural transition and sustainable development are one and the same. This approach is increasingly being promoted by the regional authorities and their partners: preserving agricultural land, supporting small farms and family farming, land policies to promote fair access to land, creating local food governance councils, increasing the proportion of sustainable and quality products, including organic products, in mass catering... and supported by the State as part of Territorial Food Projects (TFP), 428 of which had been awarded the label by 1 April 2023.
14,3 % of French farms are committed to an agro-ecological approach (Ministry of Agriculture, 2016).
France’s actions
The French government has a number of plans and programmes under way to promote more sustainable agriculture and food production in France. These policies are designed to provide incentives, in line with legislative and regulatory requirements. They combine industry development plans and aid for more ethical practices, aimed primarily at producers, but also at manufacturers and consumers.
As part of the law of 18 October 2021, aimed at protecting the payment of farmers (known as the EGalim 2 law), supplemented by the Climate and Resilience law, since 1 January 2022, meals served in mass catering in all establishments entrusted with a public service mission must include at least 50% quality and sustainable products, including at least 20% products from organic farming. This provision was extended to all mass catering on 1 January 2024.
The National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate is the framework within which public policy on food and nutrition is developed in France. This strategy will be published in 2024 and will set out guidelines for healthy and sustainable food for all. It will be proposed in line with the various programmes currently in place:
The aim of the agro-ecology project (2016) is to encourage production methods that are both economically and environmentally efficient. Project measures include reducing the use of plant protection products, promoting organic farming, apiculture and agroforestry, and reducing the use of veterinary antibiotics.
The France’s National Food Programme (PNA, 2016, 2019-2023) : the essence of this programme is to rely on a partnership with regional authorities, voluntary associations, institutional bodies and private players to encourage more sustainable food. To meet these challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture co-finances initiatives identified in annual calls for proposals. Since 2014, a national call for proposals has been launched every year at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture to develop unifying and exemplary projects that are in line with the PNA objectives. More than 150 projects, with a budget of around €20 million, have therefore been supported throughout the country of up to €6.7 million.
The second National Pact to Combat Food Waste 2017-2020 responds to one of the four main priorities of the new PNA, and one of the 13 strategic axes of the current National Waste Prevention Programme. The 2017-2020 Pact was reviewed in September 2021. It provided an opportunity to take stock of the extent to which the commitments made by the State and its partners have been fulfilled, and to plan the follow-up to be given to the Pact after 2020. It aims to bring together all stakeholders along the food chain to halve food waste by 2025.
The fight against food waste is a particularly effective lever for achieving SDG2 (as well as SDG 12.3 since it has a positive impact on combating climate change, preserving natural resources and biodiversity, as well as reducing food insecurity (by giving away rather than throwing away, for example). The anti-waste law for a circular economy (known as the AGEC 1 law) aims to accelerate the change in production and consumption models in order to limit waste and preserve natural resources, biodiversity and the climate.
Developing the labelling of the environmental impact of agricultural and food products is a way of influencing both demand (providing consumers with information that can help them change their behaviour) and supply (eco-design). The 2nd National Climate Change Adaptation Plan includes a section directly relating to the agricultural sector, with the aim of “strengthening the resilience of economic activities to climate change”. Investment grants encourage farms to purchase transitional equipment.
The agro-ecological transition, initiated at national level with the adoption of an agro-ecological project in 2014, has been reinforced by the new Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) directives, which set a course for France in this area. It redirects agriculture with the aim of combining economic, health, environmental and social performance. Agro-ecology encourages agriculture and livestock farming systems that reduce the use of synthetic inputs, enhance soil fertility and biodiversity, and conserve water, as part of a holistic approach to the farm and its environment. The Ecophyto II+ plan on “plant protection products and agriculture less dependent on pesticides” meets this need for more sustainable agriculture and will be extended by the Ecophyto 2030 strategy currently being drawn up.
Alongside this strategy, the Plan for Anticipating the Withdrawal of Active Substances and Developing Alternatives (PARSADA) and the National Strategy for the Deployment of Biocontrol are helping to organise research, transfer and deployment of alternative solutions to conventional plant protection products.
The measures implemented in France to reduce the use of inputs also extend to antibiotics, particularly for animals.
The Écoantibio 3 plan (2023-2028) , which is part of the new interministerial roadmap “Preventing and reducing antibiotic resistance, combating antimicrobial resistance” and which extends the momentum initiated in France since 2011 with Écoantibio 1 (2011-2017) and Écoantibio 2 (2017-2022), aims to limit the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in animals and the associated risks. In keeping with the “One Health” approach and considering this fight is a challenge for the sustainability and economic viability of agricultural systems, and that the veterinary-animal keeper relationship must be at the heart of the proper use of medicines, this 3rd plan includes, for the first time, the fight against resistance to other antimicrobials and antiparasitics and sets the following objectives :
- Maintain the momentum of reducing current levels of exposure to antibiotics; by maintaining current levels of exposure of livestock to antibiotics and setting a specific target of reducing the exposure of dogs and cats to antibiotics by 15% within 5 years ;
- Preserve the therapeutic arsenal in animals ;
- Strengthen the prevention of diseases requiring the use of antimicrobials and antiparasitics ;
- Promote the correct use of antimicrobials and antiparasitics in animals and herds ;
- Increase knowledge of resistance to antimicrobials and antiparasitics ;
- Encourage commitment from industries, professionals and the general public to antibiotic resistance.
Under EU regulations, requirements relating to hygiene, traceability, the use of plant protection products, animal welfare and health and residues in raw food products are subject to inspections by government departments. They may be supplemented by environmental requirements and are a condition for the payment of all or part of CAP subsidies. Other specific measures are subject to contracts between farmers, the European Union and the State. These give rise to payments to producers in return for the constraints they accept to reduce the impact of agriculture and livestock farming on the environment. The CAP also offers a compensatory allowance for natural disadvantages, a range of agri-environmental and climate measures, and aid for converting to and maintaining organic farming practices.
France’s ecological planning is reflected in seven concrete measures.
- Measure 1 : Hedge pact - to support the sustainable management and planting of hedges (€110m) ;
- Measure 2 : Protein plan - to promote the development of protein-rich crops and the industries that use them, and to support R&D (€100m) ;
- Measure 3 : SSupport for organic farming - to support communication on organic farming, and the Fonds Avenir Bio (€10m, in addition to support already provided elsewhere) ;
- Measure 4 : Deployment of Diagnostics - to support the implementation of the modular diagnostic components announced in the Guidance pact for the renewal of generations in agriculture (€32m) ;
- Measure 5 : Phyto funds - to support the Ecophyto 2030 strategy currently being prepared (€250m) ;
- Mesure 6 : Decarbonisation of agriculture and the forestry sector - to support investment in carbon-free or low-emission equipment: agricultural and forestry machinery, greenhouses, systems for storing and spreading livestock effluent, etc. (€80m) ;
- Mesure 7 : Sovereignty and Transitions Fund - to support the roll-out of territorial food projects (€20m), certain components of the sovereignty plan for fruit and vegetables (including the renovation of orchards), and, more generally, structuring projects for the sectors on a regional scale (€200m).
Internationallyl
France promotes initiatives aimed at restoring and increasing soil fertility and the adoption of agro-ecological practices. The “4 per 1000: soils for food security” initiative launched by France at COP21, is mobilising a range of partners to share and create concrete actions on carbon storage (i.e. agro-ecology, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, landscape management). The initiative is now supported by more than 280 partners and was awarded the World Future Council’s "Future Policy for Land Restoration Vision Award” at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in September 2017.
France also piloted a programmed food aid scheme with a budget of €170m in 2023 to respond to situations of severe food and nutritional insecurity and to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations in countries experiencing chronic fragility, whether in emergency situations or chronic food insecurity.
France is also active internationally in the field of nutrition. France’s promoted approach is multi-sectoral in order to act in an integrated way on various factors (water, access to health, education, etc.), with priority given to investments to combat undernutrition in the crucial period of a child’s first 1,000 days. France’s actions in the field of nutrition are carried out through the French Muskoka Fund, which is active in West and Central Africa, AFD (French Development Agency) projects and the bilateral programmed food aid scheme. With regard to the latter, France devotes 50% of its funding to the fight against malnutrition.
This commitment is set to last over time, as France will be hosting the “Nutrition for Growth (N4G)” summitin the first quarter of 2025, which will bring together government representatives (ministerial level), civil society and private sector organisations, international organisations and funders. It will provide an opportunity to mobilise the various players around political and financial commitments
The French government’s specialist development operators are also making a long-term commitment to supporting family farms around the world, as well as developing sustainable agricultural sectors. The French Development Agency has allocated €1.18 billion to the agricultural sector, in support of a number of the SDGs. Research operators, namely the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), and the Research Institute for Development (IRD) are also strongly committed to supporting agronomic research and agricultural and rural training, reconciling the challenges of protecting ecosystems and preserving natural resources, which are essential to building sustainable food systems. France is also key partner of CGIAR, the Montpellier-based international organisation for agricultural research for development, which implements ambitious scientific partnership projects involving French research bodies (CIRAD, IRD, INRAE), CGIAR centres and institutes in developing countries, particularly in three priority areas: agriculture and climate change, agro-ecological transition, nutrition and sustainable food systems