Paris (AFP)

Weakened by the Covid-19 crisis, farmers are demanding a recovery plan to get up and invest to guarantee food sovereignty, claims supported by a Senate report to be published on Friday.

"The food chain has held up, but the cooperatives have suffered during this crisis," said Thursday during a press conference Dominique Chargé, president of the Agricultural Cooperation, which brings together three French farmers out of four.

"Our neighbors and competitors already have or are in the process of implementing a revival dedicated to their agricultural sector. France has not yet considered it. This is a major strategic error", write the authors of a report by the Senate's economic affairs committee, which AFP was able to consult.

"Over the weeks, we have gone from a health crisis which required absolute urgency to ensure the continuity of the food chain, to an economic crisis which has taken hold today in businesses and which has consequences for commodity markets, agricultural activity and producers' remuneration, "warned Mr. Chargé.

The cooperatives "suffered an average loss of 28% of turnover over the period from March to May with significant differences", according to a survey of members of the Agricultural Cooperation.

Whilst retail sales remained stable, the closure of out-of-home catering and the export brakes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected alcoholic beverages, but also beef and sheepmeat, poultry and dairy products, among others.

"Agriculture and the agrifood industry will need a recovery plan to be sustainable over time with the objectives of restoring food sovereignty and meeting societal expectations," said Dominique Chargé.

- One billion euros, according to senators -

He presented a plan comprising around thirty measures, including strengthening the equity of cooperatives "to deal with the difficulties caused by the crisis and to cope with the importance of the investments they have to make", in particular in the agroecological transition.

For this component, Mr. Chargé spoke of the creation of an "agroecological transition fund, supplemented by public credits and economic operators which would make it possible to finance the agricultural sectors which invest in these ecological conversions and the evolution of production models. ".

One of the main thrusts of this plan is the promotion of "product in France" by making "that large-scale distribution is more active in promoting" French products.

It is also a recommendation from the Senate report. He also recommends, like cooperatives, not to forget international trade, because "farmers' income is made up of 25% by exports", recalled Laurent Duplomb, LR senator from Haute-Loire and one of the authors of this report.

But before setting out to reconquer foreign markets, many companies must heal their wounds and think about their survival. Hence the need to release an envelope "of at least a billion euros", according to the Senate report.

Several categories of aid were imagined by the authors of the report, aiming in particular to compensate for the losses suffered during confinement: as was done in the Netherlands, the senators proposed "aid for the loss of production or turnover "business": "if your turnover has fallen by more than 30%, we compensate for half of the loss", said Mr. Duplomb who assesses this measure "between 400 and 500 million euros".

Another objective of this recovery plan is to help farmers invest using an over-amortization mechanism or a tax credit, for example to reduce their exposure to climatic or health risks, or to reduce the use of phytosanitary products.

The Chambers of Agriculture, in particular, suggest "putting in place a vast plan to modernize agricultural structures, through massive investment" or even to modify the rules of public tenders so that it is possible to promote local supply.

"The food shortage has been evacuated and we have faced it (...). For these two reasons, we must not be evacuated from this recovery plan," concluded Mr. Chargé.

© 2020 AFP