China and the EU: Comparing Two Tech-Forward Plans for the Future of Food Production

The EU and China have each released new strategic plans for the future of their respective agri-food industries in recent weeks.

In both cases, details are still thin on the ground. Notably, however, they share some common themes.

Both plans appear to emphasize the issue of food security, while environmental sustainability is seemingly acknowledged as being of critical, albeit secondary, importance. Similarly, both plans underline the potential role to be played by innovative cleantech solutions.

From left to right: Charles Michel (former President of the European Council), Xi Jinping (President of China), Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission)

Source: European Union

EU Agri-Food Vision: Security Trumps Sustainability?

The European Commission’s “Vision for Agriculture and Food: Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations” sets out the EU executive’s broad objectives for the region’s food ecosystem.

While it should not explicitly be seen as a replacement for the 2020 “Farm to Fork Strategy”, the Agri-food Vision does seem to depart somewhat from much of the former’s approach.

Released late last month, around the same time as the Clean Industrial Deal and not long after the Draghi report on European competitiveness, the Agri-food Vision adopts a similar tone to both of those initiatives.

It aims to “recognize agriculture and food as strategic sectors” and “strengthen [their] competitiveness and attractiveness” while ensuring “long-term growth, innovation, and societal benefits” leading to “a resilient, innovative, and sustainable sector.”

This is not antithetical to the Farm to Fork Strategy’s desire “for a fair, healthy, and environmentally-friendly food system,” but does represent a modulation.

Of particular interest to cleantech innovators and investors is that the Vision appears to lean more into technological solutions and interventions, where the Farm to Fork Strategy had given more airtime to concepts such as organic farming. It had also controversially called for a 50% cut in chemical pesticide usage by 2030, a target that was eventually dropped in the face of farmer protests relating to the policy and other issues.

Below, I’ve outlined some of the Vision’s most notable objectives, along with my interpretation of what these may mean for cleantech innovation:

• Creating an “EU digital strategy on agriculture.” Depending on its scope, this could have a wide impact across multiple stakeholders, driving broader adoption and commercialization of technologies relating to precision farming, supply chain traceability, agri-commodities trading, farm robotics, and more.
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• Development of “a comprehensive plan to address protein supply challenges.” This has relevance both for alternative protein innovators, as well as businesses and researchers working in the livestock industry.
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• “Presenting a bioeconomy strategy.” This should touch on myriad aspects of the agri-food value chain, from biological crop inputs and plant genetics through to animal health technologies, advanced fermentation in food production, waste stream valorization, and production of biofuels and biomaterials.
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• “Nature and carbon credits.” Advancing biodiversity and greenhouse gas incentive schemes by building rigor and investor confidence could unlock new sources of income for farmers, which could in turn finance adoption of tech solutions.
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• “Proposing a water resilience strategy.” Innovators working on water management, wastewater treatment, and adjacent areas such as crop inputs should keep an eye on this.
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• “Accelerating access to biopesticides.” While not explicitly a response to the abandoned Farm to Fork goal of halving pesticide use by 2030, this could achieve reduction in agrochemical usage by offering innovative alternatives, rather than simply mandating member states to cut pesticides and potentially threatening penalties.

All in all, the Vision gives a general sense of movement away from the Farm to Fork Strategy’s ardor for organic farming; banning and phasing out agrochemicals; and delegating to member states.

The renewed focus is on bloc-wide food security; productivity and competitiveness of the region’s agri-food sectors; and better management of water and other natural resources.

That tonal shift is unsurprising given the changes that have taken place globally since 2020; including the fragility of food supply chains laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic, and subsequent geopolitical shocks including deglobalisation, tariffs, and war on the European continent and farther afield.

China’s 5-Year Agri-Food Tech Plan

By contrast, China has always put national food security front and center of its strategic agri-food planning; in part because drought and famine have been repeat themes throughout the country’s long history.

Perhaps as a result of this, the Chinese government has been more explicit in its willingness to advance and adopt cutting-edge agri-food technologies, including those that are often considered controversial elsewhere.

China has published two documents in recent weeks that point to its agri-food priorities in the coming years.

The country’s Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs released its notice on “National Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Focus Areas” for the period 2024 to 2028.

It is striking how tech-forward the notice is. Highlights of particular interest from a cleantech perspective include:

• “Cultivation of new agricultural varieties.” Including research on genetic mechanisms to breed “high-yield, stress-resistant crops,” development of IP around seeds, enhancing breeding techniques using “gene editing and smart breeding systems.”
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• “Improvement of land quality” and soil health via “organic fertilizers and precision fertilization” and deployment of “rapid soil testing technology.”
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• Promoting R&D to improve agricultural equipment. Advancing “intelligent agricultural machinery” with AI-driven sensors and automation; enhancing precision planting, harvesting, and processing equipment.
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• “Prevention and control of crop diseases and pests.” Implementing AI-based monitoring and early-warning systems; developing “bio-friendly pesticides, pheromone attractants, and RNA biopesticides.”
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• “Prevention and control of livestock, poultry, and aquatic animal diseases” by “advancing vaccine development, disease monitoring, and AI-driven epidemiological studies” and pursuing “sustainable livestock breeding.”
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• “Efficient planting and breeding” of crops and livestock through promotion of “integrated farming models, such as rice-fish systems” and boosting “feed efficiency and sustainable livestock nutrition.”
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• “Green and low-carbon” agriculture. Reducing agricultural emissions, improving waste management, and developing eco-friendly inputs, as well as sequestering soil carbon and rolling out precision irrigation.
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• Driving improvements in agri-food processing and manufacturing. Innovating in food storage, transportation, and advanced manufacturing. Research “new food sources that integrate microbiome, artificial intelligence, big data, materials science and Intelligent manufacturing and other cutting-edge technologies to create a new generation of food that meets new scenarios and special needs.”
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• Ensuring quality and safety of agri-food products. Strengthening monitoring and traceability of food safety risks, ascertaining the safety and nutritional efficiency of alternative proteins, and developing functional foods tailored to specific health needs.

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council of the People’s Republic also recently published their annual ‘No 1 Document’. It is the first major policy proposal rolled out at the start of each year, and is always focused on rural affairs.

Among other things, this year’s edition calls for “building a diversified food supply system,” including “improvement… of the edible fungus industry” and “development of algae-based food”. It also mentions the need to develop “bio-agriculture” and “new food resources”.

Our Take

It isn’t a surprise to this analyst to see that China is seemingly embracing novel agri-food technologies in much bolder and a more direct manner than its EU counterpart.

But that’s because it isn’t a new trend, as far as China is concerned. For several years now, its government has talked about the importance of tech innovation in the food and agriculture space. The question is whether these words have translated into action and progress in the intervening time.

The more obvious change is in Europe, where the EU appears to be more openly acknowledging the potential role of tech innovation in achieving its updated goals.

Both China’s plan and the EU’s may seem to focus on food security first and foremost, with environmental protection relegated. But both these objectives need not be mutually exclusive. Rather, by leveraging cleantech solutions available today, more productive and resource-efficient agriculture should lead to better ecological outcomes, too.