The basic role for agricultural policies consists of providing the core investments and services that farmers need to develop their operations into viable farm businesses. Focusing on the sector’s enabling environment benefits both agriculture and the wider rural economy, facilitating the construction of diversified rural economies. Such policies are likely to be more effective in the long term than subsidies or market interventions, which have the opposite tendency.

Since 2006, a European Union-wide strategy on soil conservation has been in existence that is to address the complex roles that soil plays as a natural resource. However, a legally binding agreement has so far met with opposition by a blocking minority of EU Member States. Does the EU nevertheless offer prospects for soil conservation?

ELD is a joint initiative of Germany, the European Commission and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). ELD offers a strong platform for raising public awareness of land degradation and advocating sustainable land-use strategies.