Policy recommendations for legume crops

What can we learn from previous academic papers and EU projects on legume-friendly policy?

In our LegumES project, we have delved deeper into the subject and identified themes that have recurred in previous proposals through a systematic literature review and document analysis.

A central finding of this analysis is the need to move away from direct production subsidies in favour of holistic, cross-sectoral interventions along the value chain.

Key themes include:

Market-focused policies

Encourage demand by implementing demand-side initiatives (such as labelling and market information), investing in research and development for processing technologies, and supporting short food supply chains. These efforts aim to enhance market access and competitiveness for legume products.

Sustainable agricultural practices

Promote agroecological principles, reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers, and incentivise practices that yield positive environmental and health benefits.

Consumer awareness

Launch public awareness campaigns and nutritional education initiatives to boost legume consumption, aligning dietary recommendations and consumer preferences with sustainable food systems.

Policy integration

Harmonise agricultural, environmental, and health policies to create synergies among sectors. This will ensure coherence between sustainable diets and farming practices while promoting the diverse advantages of legume cultivation.

Encourage Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

Support the exchange of knowledge and foster collaboration throughout the value chain.

Research and innovation

Invest in R&D to enhance legume varieties, breeding techniques, cultivation practices, and processing methods, improving productivity, resilience, and adaptability.

Farmer Support

Offer financial and technical assistance (such as training) to help farmers adopt sustainable legume-based farming systems and manage associated risks.

In short, legume-friendly policies advocate shifting away from direct production subsidies towards a holistic, value-chain approach. The recommendations call for a comprehensive, multi-sectoral strategy. The policy should focus on more than just increasing legume production but on creating a supportive environment across the entire value chain, enhancing sustainability, and stimulating consumer demand. Direct subsidies are less effective than fostering enabling conditions across the value chain.

Our systematic literature review analysed 56 articles on legumes, ecosystem services, and policy. It used a long list of keywords, including legume types, ecosystem service types, and policy, in abstracts of journal articles and books. Regarding previous EU projects, we analysed the policy recommendations of 10 legume-related projects.        

Partners:

ADAS The James Hutton Institute Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau FiBL Arcadia International E.E.I.G. AgFutura Technologies Elisa Pizarro Carbonell Monika Weiss Zsófia Veér Gabor Bertenyi DIL Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e. V. Jozef Stefan Institute ESSRG ITC - Innovation Technology Cluster Creative Minds Universidade de Aveiro PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Università degli Studi di Perugia SEGES Innovation Terres Inovia Universidade Católica Portuguesa Fulya Batur Agnes Neulinger Kata Fodor Orsolya Lazányi Bálint Balázs Fanny Tran Marta Wilton Vasconcelos Pietro Iannetta

Sister projects:

VALERECO LEGENDARY Project