Israel - Stage 3
Main findings
The main findings that emerged from the plant food systems dialogues included challenges related to the supply of production factors (land, water and workers), use of pesticides and fertilizers, climate change, food security, R&D, knowledge transfer, adoption of technologies to raise productivity, marketing, policy and regulatory tools regarding the status of agriculture, waste management, the position regarding imports/local production. Detailed explanation of each category: 1. Supply of production factors: a) Water – high water prices and not enough subsidization for infrastructure dev
... Read moreelopment, a lack of information regarding the long-term implications of the use of recycled wastewater. b) Land – limited area available for agriculture, contraction of agricultural area resulting from an increase in other land uses, need to update legislation (e.g. there is no law to encourage agriculture in Israel, absence of definition of "agriculture" in planning and building law, outdated "settlement law"). c) Workers - restricted number of foreign workers along with the fact that most Israelis do not want to do manual work in agriculture creates a shortage of workers. Seasonality of production, administrative allocation and limitations on mobility of foreign workers among farmers result in a suboptimal allocation. 2. Farmers: lack of generational renewal 3. Research and Development, Knowledge transfer – Ensure public agricultural extension, Implementation of research results, ensure budget for agricultural R&D, collaboration with start-up companies. 4. Pesticides and fertilizers – lack of effective environmentally friendly pesticides. Part of fertilizers and pesticides are imported, leading to a possibility of shortage; negative environmental impacts resulting from the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers due to the prevailing climatic conditions and ground structure in the country; frictions with the urban sector and nature. 5. Climate changes – lack of knowledge regarding climate change and its effect on different crops, development of climate change policy for agricultural sector and sufficient investment for climate change adaptation, supplying the necessary information to farmers about tools for adaption and crops that can be grown. 6. Uncertainty of farming in Israel: increased variability of yields resulting from climate change, frequent policy changes increase uncertainty for farmers. 7. Technologies – difficulties in improving and adopting new agricultural technologies. Technologies to reduce food waste. There is a need to improve soil fertility. In recent years, the productivity of the agricultural sector declined – it is necessary to understand the causes and increase productivity. 8. Food security – providing the economic, social and environmental conditions to generate food security and healthy nutrition for the local population. Ensuring that agriculture in Israel is profitable for farmers. Domestic agricultural production is stagnating in recent years. We need to be prepared for future scenarios in which domestic agriculture will need to increase its production substantially: population growth, change in nutrition habits, climate change and emergency situations. The challenge is to create the conditions that will enable the agricultural sector to supply the food necessary in the light of future scenarios. The growing Palestinian population should be accounted for as well. 9. Marketing – coping with aggressive marketing of ultra-processed food. There is a need to ensure profitability of food production in Israel. Steady supply of raw material to the food industry. 10. Policies – Ministries need to collaborate in order to establish a holistic and sustainable policy for the food system with clear long-term objectives. Disagreements about objectives and policy instruments (e.g. importance of agriculture, subsidies). There is a need for long-term policy objectives for the agricultural sector. Differences in requirements for imported and domestic agricultural products. 11. Agricultural waste management – food losses and waste, waste resulting from surplus production, developing an alternative for plastic, creating a standard for compost. 12. Conflicts between environment and agriculture, e.g. overlap of wildlife corridors and agricultural land. Need to find balance between nature and agriculture. Not enough incentives for farmers to use sustainable agriculture. 13. Barriers to the development of urban agriculture Read less
Action Track(s): 1, 2, 3, 5
Keywords: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Innovation, Policy, Trade-offs