Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MEF4CAP (Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for the Common Agricultural Policy)
Período documentado: 2020-10-01 hasta 2022-03-31
The last decade has seen a considerable change in society’s awareness of the interaction between agriculture and the environment. This growing concern for environmental sustainability has been reflected in recent European Commission initiatives such as the European Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. This environmental emphasis is also evident in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2022-27, which has seen the objectives of the CAP widen to encompass environmental concerns alongside the long standing economic and social objectives.
While historically the CAP relied on compliance with rules as a means to achieve its objectives, the new CAP will place its emphasis on the achievement of results. This creates a new challenge for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the CAP. The European Commission has recognised this in calling for the modification of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) to better encapsulate the broader CAP agenda through the creation of a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN).
Measuring the various facets of sustainability is challenging. It could be time consuming and prohibitively expensive to collect data that is not currently available. Therefore, there is a need to determine what could be measured, prioritise what should be measured and identify how it might be measured in an efficient way. This requires that we harness and integrate the datasets that are available to us, so that we can merge data and reuse data rather than make repeated requests to data providers for information they have previously provided. Equally, we need to harness the capacity of new technologies so that we can benefit from the potential to gather data remotely.
Understanding the types of data that could be relevant is vital. The current MEF4CAP project (Monitoring & Evaluation Frameworks for the Common Agricultural Policy) takes what has been learnt in in other projects, and also examines developments in global, EU policy, national level policy and sectoral stakeholder perspectives to determine the types of data that will be required to measure progress in achieving a more sustainable agricultural sector. This data will also be useful in devising, and where necessary modifying, strategies to deliver desirable policy outcomes.
The overall objective of the project is to make an inventory of future data needs for monitoring and evaluation of the CAP, describe the current developments in information and communications technology (ICT) and data capturing techniques and assess the technological readiness of these solutions. Eventually, we will deliver a roadmap for future monitoring. This will ultimately contribute to a more sustainable agriculture in the EU and contribute towards the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.
While historically the CAP relied on compliance with rules as a means to achieve its objectives, the new CAP will place its emphasis on the achievement of results. This creates a new challenge for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the CAP. The European Commission has recognised this in calling for the modification of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) to better encapsulate the broader CAP agenda through the creation of a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN).
Measuring the various facets of sustainability is challenging. It could be time consuming and prohibitively expensive to collect data that is not currently available. Therefore, there is a need to determine what could be measured, prioritise what should be measured and identify how it might be measured in an efficient way. This requires that we harness and integrate the datasets that are available to us, so that we can merge data and reuse data rather than make repeated requests to data providers for information they have previously provided. Equally, we need to harness the capacity of new technologies so that we can benefit from the potential to gather data remotely.
Understanding the types of data that could be relevant is vital. The current MEF4CAP project (Monitoring & Evaluation Frameworks for the Common Agricultural Policy) takes what has been learnt in in other projects, and also examines developments in global, EU policy, national level policy and sectoral stakeholder perspectives to determine the types of data that will be required to measure progress in achieving a more sustainable agricultural sector. This data will also be useful in devising, and where necessary modifying, strategies to deliver desirable policy outcomes.
The overall objective of the project is to make an inventory of future data needs for monitoring and evaluation of the CAP, describe the current developments in information and communications technology (ICT) and data capturing techniques and assess the technological readiness of these solutions. Eventually, we will deliver a roadmap for future monitoring. This will ultimately contribute to a more sustainable agriculture in the EU and contribute towards the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.
We have completed the first three Workpackages (WPs) bringing together the data needs to monitor and evaluate the performance of the new Policy and the up-to-date ICT developments for the acquisition, processing and exchange of agriculture-related information.
MEF4CAP made an inventory of future data needs for M&E (WP1). The long list of thematic areas encompassing economic, environmental and social sustainability was refined to produce a ‘wish list’ of indicators reflecting priority data needs, either not currently satisfied via existing national data sources or are not already adequately accounted for within the FADN. The metrics identified have been paired to the CAP objective to which they are considered to be most relevant.
In parallel we described the current developments in ICT and data capturing techniques and assessed the technological readiness of these solutions (WP2). In particular, MEF4CAP investigated in detail emerging ICT technologies that will dominate in the agricultural domain in the future. Future satellite programs and the great potential that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be of benefit for M&E purposes along with the advanced agricultural machinery and robotics. Overall, the analysis concludes with the integration of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) for effective landscape monitoring.
Subsequently we delivered pathways for future monitoring, where the needs of different stakeholders are met (WP3). Following the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all technology, WP3 looked for the most promising combination of technologies that provide information for the indicators designed to monitor and evaluate the performance of the Policy. The first step identified the potential of each technology to provide useful information for the indicator. After defining the potential, the most promising combination of technologies and data, i.e. pathways were identified. Potential examples which were presented in our Stakeholder Workshop focused on pathways for the carbon sequestration, farm GHG emissions, pesticides, and landscape features indicators.
We have initiated four demonstration cases (WP4) do show how identified pathways can contribute to better M&E and how Member States M&E frameworks (including indicators, the underpinning data flows and measuring methods) can be further harmonised. Four demonstration cases have been defined addressing the following topics:
• DC1: Use of digital information flows in the agri-food sector;
• DC2: Integrating open-source satellite data with farm level data;
• DC3: Combining data from national level to improve policy making;
• DC4: New ways for monitoring agri-environmental measures.
Previous WPs will bring together expertise on a wide range of data sources and information management methodologies enabling to draw a roadmap making use of up to date scientific knowledge and knowledge from the ICT and agrofood sector allowing the use of advanced and innovative data capturing methods.
MEF4CAP made an inventory of future data needs for M&E (WP1). The long list of thematic areas encompassing economic, environmental and social sustainability was refined to produce a ‘wish list’ of indicators reflecting priority data needs, either not currently satisfied via existing national data sources or are not already adequately accounted for within the FADN. The metrics identified have been paired to the CAP objective to which they are considered to be most relevant.
In parallel we described the current developments in ICT and data capturing techniques and assessed the technological readiness of these solutions (WP2). In particular, MEF4CAP investigated in detail emerging ICT technologies that will dominate in the agricultural domain in the future. Future satellite programs and the great potential that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be of benefit for M&E purposes along with the advanced agricultural machinery and robotics. Overall, the analysis concludes with the integration of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) for effective landscape monitoring.
Subsequently we delivered pathways for future monitoring, where the needs of different stakeholders are met (WP3). Following the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all technology, WP3 looked for the most promising combination of technologies that provide information for the indicators designed to monitor and evaluate the performance of the Policy. The first step identified the potential of each technology to provide useful information for the indicator. After defining the potential, the most promising combination of technologies and data, i.e. pathways were identified. Potential examples which were presented in our Stakeholder Workshop focused on pathways for the carbon sequestration, farm GHG emissions, pesticides, and landscape features indicators.
We have initiated four demonstration cases (WP4) do show how identified pathways can contribute to better M&E and how Member States M&E frameworks (including indicators, the underpinning data flows and measuring methods) can be further harmonised. Four demonstration cases have been defined addressing the following topics:
• DC1: Use of digital information flows in the agri-food sector;
• DC2: Integrating open-source satellite data with farm level data;
• DC3: Combining data from national level to improve policy making;
• DC4: New ways for monitoring agri-environmental measures.
Previous WPs will bring together expertise on a wide range of data sources and information management methodologies enabling to draw a roadmap making use of up to date scientific knowledge and knowledge from the ICT and agrofood sector allowing the use of advanced and innovative data capturing methods.
Developments in the political landscape (e.g. Paris Agreement, European Green Deal) inevitably broaden the scope of indicators for M&E the CAP. Data are increasingly generated by farmers and current ICT development in the agribusiness create new opportunities to integrate them. Data integration is needed and so are new ways of making sense of them to monitor and evaluate the impact of the CAP. M&E have so far been based on agricultural statistics and administrative data but with the new needs and possibilities, the use of satellite and sensory data will be increasingly important. We will include environmental sustainability indicators given the lack of attention given to those measures historically and its increasing policy relevance. A MEF4CAP project stakeholder engagement workshop held to gather perspectives on future policy demands and associated data requirements also confirmed that improved environmental metrics are required. Relative to economic and social sustainability metrics, there is a greater likelihood that data for environmental indicators can be captured using emerging technologies. Eventually, we will deliver a roadmap for future monitoring where the needs of different stakeholders are met, and the potential of different approaches is fully and optimally exploited.