World Food Day

»Climate is changing. Agriculture and food must, too.«

Proving sustainable and secure food supply, which would be in sufficient quantities physically and economically available to all people, even in extreme situations, is becoming ever more important also due to climate change with increasingly less reliable harvests. To be able to continue to provide food, agricultural activity and food systems will have to adapt to current climate change and become more productive, resilient and planned in terms of sustainable care for future generations and capacity of the environment. Regulation of the environmental effects of agricultural activity, achieving higher levels of self-sufficiency, promotion of the use of local agricultural products and traceability of safely produced agricultural products are becoming priorities in planning the development of agriculture in Slovenia. The main message of FAO at this year’s World Food Day, which is celebrated on 16 October, is “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must, too.“


We prepared for you some interesting information on current trends in agriculture and compared them with expert proposals to improve the security of food supply in Slovenia. 


Infographic 1: Current trends in agriculture, Slovenia 

 
  
 
DO YOU KNOW the characteristics of conventional agriculture and its challenges?

Key characteristics and challenges of conventional agriculture are:

• Unequal global distribution of (currently still sufficient) food production
• Chemisation of agriculture
• Soil erosion
• Reduction of agricultural area due to soil sealing
• The need to produce more food (due to growing population)
• Large water consumption in agriculture and food systems (according to some estimates, for producing 1 kg of wheat 900 litres, for producing 1 kg of maize 1,400 litres and for producing 1 kg of beef as much as 15,000 to 20,000 litres of water are needed⁴⁾)
• Energy intensity
• Relatively low number of persons employed in agriculture, etc.


ARE YOU FAMILIAR with modern trends in Slovenian agriculture? 

According to the latest statistical data, agricultural activity in Slovenia is characterised by:

• Performing agricultural activities in specific geographic and climate conditions is becoming more vulnerable
• The number of agricultural holdings is declining (in 2016⁵⁾: 70,063 or 7% less than in 2007, when the number was 75,340); a large majority are family farms
• Agricultural holdings are mostly small (2016⁵⁾: 40% with less than 3 ha of utilised agricultural area; they cultivated 10% of total utilised agricultural area)
• Large agricultural holdings (larger than 30 hectares of utilised agricultural area) account for a low share of agricultural holdings (in 2016⁵⁾ only 1%)
• An average agricultural holding cultivates a larger utilised agricultural area (in 2016⁵⁾: 6.8 hectares or 5% more than in 2007, when the figure was 6.5 hectares)
• The extent of utilised agricultural area per capita is declining (in 2016⁵⁾: 2,300 m² per capita, in 2007: 2,400 m² or 5% more)
• The share of agricultural holdings with organic farming in 2013 (3%) was well below the strategic target of 20% of organic agricultural holdings by 2015⁶⁾
• The share of utilised agricultural area with organic farming is well below the strategic target of 15% (by 2015)⁶⁾ (between 2006 and 2015 it increased from 4% to almost 7%)

• The area of arable land is declining (2006–2015: by 4%)
• The area of arable land per capita is declining (in 2015: 830 m², in 2006: 885 m²)
• On a smaller area more wheat is produced (compared to 2006, in 2015: on 6% smaller area 17% more wheat was produced)
• On a smaller area more maize for grain is produced (compared to 2006, in 2015: on 5% smaller area 23% more maize for grain was produced)
• The area of wheat per capita is also increasingly smaller (in 2006: 478 m², in 2015: 470 m²)

• More energy consumed in agriculture (in 2015: EUR 100 million or 20% more than in 2006)
• Self-sufficiency rates are still the lowest for vegetables (in 2015: 39%), fruit (48%), potato (59%) and cereals (73%)
• Some trends in eating habits are encouraging: vegetable consumption per capita is growing (in 2006: 96 kg, in 2015: 109 kg), while meat consumption is falling (in 2006: 96 kg, in 2015: 88 kg)
• Attitude towards food is improving (according to estimates⁷⁾, in the 2010–2014 period the amount of food waste per capita declined from 88 kg to 59 kg). 


DO YOU KNOW what some experts are saying?

Despite relatively low self-sufficiency rates, Slovenia has sufficient potential in available agricultural area⁸⁾ to increase its self-sufficiency in the future.

To achieve the strategic minimum of (more) secure food supply (around 70–80% self-sufficiency rate) according to the expert opinion, Slovenia needs to:

• Increase the extent of utilised agricultural area (to around 600,000 hectares, i.e. to 3,000 m² of utilised agricultural area per capita)
• Increase the extent of arable land (to around 250,000 hectares or 1,250 m² per capita, instead of the current 170,000 hectares or less than 900 m² per capita)
• Increase the area of cereals by 2030 (to 140,000 hectares to achieve 700 m² of area per capita, instead of the current 500 m² per capita)
• Increase the self-sufficiency rate of vegetables
• Continue to promote the development of organic farming
• Limit fodder production in lowlands
• Restore degraded farmland
• Increase the importance of small agricultural holdings and agricultural land for producing food in highlands
• Reduce the amount of food waste per capita. 


Infographic 2: Selected trends in agricultural activity compared to expert proposals to improve the security of food supply, Slovenia 

 
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4) Source: Nierenberg, D., Halweil, B. (2005) Cultivating food security. New York, Worldwatch Institute, p. 62–77.
5) Methodological explanation: Provisional data from the Farm Structure Survey.
6) Source: Slabe, A. (2010) Kmetijska zemljišča v kontekstu trajnostnega razvoja Slovenije. Ljubljana, Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, p.3
7) Methodological explanation: A rough statistical estimate of food waste per capita is the first attempt to calculate the indicator, so caution is advised in using and interpreting the data. The national methodology for calculating this indicator is being prepared.
Food waste includes the following types of waste:
02 01 02 Animal tissue waste (from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, hunting and fishing)
02 01 03 Plan tissue waste (from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, hunting and fishing)
02 02 02 Animal tissue waste (from preparation and processing of meat, fish and other foods of animal origin)
02 03 01 Sludges from washing, cleaning, peeling, centrifuging and separation (from fruit, vegetables, cereals, edible oils preparation and processing; from conservation; from yeast production; from preparation and fermentation of molasses)
20 01 08 Biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste (municipal waste)
20 01 25 Edible oil and fat (municipal waste)
20 03 01 Mixed municipal waste
20 03 02 Waste from markets.
8) Source: Plut, D. (2012) Prehranska varnost sveta in Slovenije. Dela, 38, p. 5–23. DOI: 10.4312/dela.38.1.5–23