European Union-Farming in general.

EUROPEAN UNION-FARMING.

FARMERS throughout the European Union inevitably focus on their own problems and fragile margins.

However, the wider vision for food production is decidedly more complex, with most commentators suggesting that, with the global population set to increase from six million to nine million by 2050, farmers will be called upon to produce considerably more food.

Nowhere will the demand be greater than in Africa and in Latin America, where farming is little more than a subsistence activity. Agriculture there is totally unsubsidised and often subject to a range of trade restrictions from the developed world.

Cash is not the only solution: basic research and marketing expertise are necessary to assist poor farmers. That much was recognised at the G20 summit in London, where US president Barack Obama unveiled an aid package of $448 million (£300m) to help farmers in both Africa and Latin America, with more cash in the pipeline.

That move was welcomed yesterday by Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, chief executive of the South African-based Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network.

Speaking in New York, he said: "Africa has been asking what the new Obama administration will do for us, but this recovery package shows that America is rising to the occasion. After a generation of neglecting agriculture and farming, world leaders are recognising we can only avert further food crises if we invest more in the developing world."

Farmers in the EU may have missed the several recent news items relating to food production in much of the third world, but the fact is that international leaders have pledged to push the subject much higher up the global agenda. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, is taking a clear lead.

He has secured a commitment from the US, in addition to the immediate promise of $448m of support, due to be delivered over the next 18 months, to see this rise to as much as $1 billion shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has indicated cash for farming is a high priority. Funding for agriculture and its associated infrastructure is set to triple as part of a wider plan to stimulate the global economy – funding will rise from the current $4bn to $12bn in little more than a year.

Africa seems set to be the principal beneficiary, with support doubling to $800m, while funds for farmers in Latin America should increase from $450m to $800m. There will also be a parallel investment of close on $1bn for new projects in Asia, with the bulk of this new cash being available in India and Indochina.

The real problem on the global scene remains protectionism. The Obama administration has made clear it will continue, where possible, to insulate US farmers from the worst vagaries of market fluctuations, while the EU’s

common agricultural policy tends to favour the interests of European farmers.

The current round of World Trade Organisation discussions remain in a state of limbo, but the pressure is clearly on to seek a relaxation of import and export tariffs.

Europe is no longer a continental bubble.