Food sovereignty relies on ecological planning

The upcoming food sovereignty conferences are likely to shape debates on the future of French agriculture in 2026. The main responses provided over the past two years can be summarised as follows: remove production constraints to produce more of everything (both animal and plant products), to recover market shares in France and abroad. Seeking to produce more of everything without considering adaptation or transition is a form of denial, at a time when climate change is hitting farmers hard and regularly, and when our dependence on imported fertilisers and oilseed meals undermines our sovereignty. The conferences must take these considerations into account — otherwise, they will serve only to perpetuate the notion of an illusory sovereignty. 

The current response to the sovereignty crisis: remove all production constraints to regain market shares 

The French agricultural and food sectors are experiencing a genuine crisis in their trade balance. The trade balance for agricultural products turned negative in 2025, reaching a level not seen since at least 2000. The balance for agri-food products has also deteriorated sharply in recent years, although it remained slightly positive in 2025. Without going into detail, this dynamic reflects both price effects and volume effects. 

As set out in the 2025 French Agricultural Orientation Law, food sovereignty conferences are being organised by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2026. The topic of food sovereignty will therefore remain central to agricultural debates this year. 

The current framing of the sovereignty issue is almost entirely limited to regaining market shares in France and abroad. The proposed solution is: remove production constraints and produce more of everything. 

This response could, however, weaken our strategic independence 

Without prejudging the effectiveness of this approach for recapturing market shares, it risks undermining our broader food sovereignty. Agricultural and food production already relies heavily on imports, much of it from countries outside the European Union. Two product families are specifically mentioned in the European Union’s Economic Security Strategy, published in December. 

First family: nitrogen mineral fertilisers, a cornerstone of crop production. These fertilisers, produced from gas, are widely used for non-organic crop production (notably wheat). More than two-thirds of nitrogen fertiliser consumption in France is imported, and 40% of these imports come from non-EU countries: Russia, Egypt, Algeria, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States (source1, source2, source3). Yet a European mechanism designed to reduce imports from outside the EU is under threat of dismantling. 

Second family: oilseed meals (soybean, rapeseed and sunflower seeds after oil extraction), a cornerstone of animal production. These meals provide a large proportion of protein in livestock feed. Approximately 45% of these meals are imported in France, and around 70% of these imports come from non-EU countries, including 62% from Brazil and 15% from Ukraine. Soy alone accounts for 70% of these imports. 

Increasing both animal and plant production would necessarily increase these imports, exposing farmers and consumers further to growing geopolitical risks. 

Genuine ecological planning is essential to truly strengthen our food sovereignty 

Improving food sovereignty and reducing imports logically entails not consuming significantly more than what our land and resources can sustainably produce. This objective aligns closely with many aspects of the ecological transition. More specifically, developing legumes, pasture-based cattle systems, organic farming, and so on — these are all levers that can reduce our dependency on fertilisers and oilseed meals and enhance farm-level autonomy. 

Ecological planning is therefore an essential response to food sovereignty, to be combined with others: adjusting the competitive framework, directing demand towards French, healthy and sustainable products in reasonable quantities, and so on. By coordinating these responses, it becomes possible to regain market shares without undermining strategic independence, and to produce today without compromising tomorrow’s production capacity. 

The ecological transition and strategic independence require investments in the agricultural and food sectors, and may involve potential capital losses. To limit the costs associated with these investments, they must be anticipated and coordinated. This need for coordination and planning is even more critical given that several waves of investment are currently underway or imminent across different agricultural and food sub-sectors in France. Food sovereignty conferences should therefore provide an opportunity to develop roadmaps by sub-sectors and regions, guiding upcoming agricultural and food investments in a logic of resilience and preservation of production capacity.