3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
Farmers Harvesting Higher Value-Added Renewable
Luxembourg’s agriculture will never meet the profitability of other more favored territories, at
least in comparison to regions where production standards are not as high as in Europe.
Luxembourg’s farmers complain about low incomes, and they are not and never will become
competitive to supply international markets. Sustainable food will increase their margins by up
to 100% (conventional milk: €0.30 /liter; organic milk: €0.50 /liter).
The net income of farmers is lower than the compensatory payments (e.g. farmers destroy
public money as well as environmental goods). This is true for conventional farms and for
organic farms, except for fruit, vegetable, and wine production. This raises the key question of
how to diversify farmer income through viable innovative options that the farm sector could
pursue to generate other secure sources of sustainable revenues while at the same time
practicing ecologically sustainable farming practices.
Shifting Luxembourg to renewable energy resources is a promising option. The nation is
completely dependent on several billion euros of imported oil and natural gas, and a large
percentage of imported electricity. There are competitive domestic alternative options that
can displace these imports within the next several decades. For Luxembourg’s farming
community, the alternatives offer a secure, long-term, safe and sustainable source of revenues.
These revenues could alleviate, if not entirely eliminate, the fragile economic conditions many
in the farming community have faced for years. This value-added opportunity extends far
beyond providing a strong financial foundation for the nation’s farming community, by also
accruing robust climate mitigation and adaptation benefits.
Climate change is already being felt in Luxembourg and throughout Europe. Current climate
change measurements in crop yields in Luxembourg find an ongoing decrease in total vegetal
food production of -5.8% for 2013/2014 and - 18.9% for 2015 compared to 2013. Current
weather statistics show a 40 – 50% deficit in rain during the spring and summer. The cumulated
summer rainfall [for 2015] was 136.9 liters per m2, with a 39% decrease compared to the 1981-
2010 reference long term period. Rain collected for June was 39.3 l/m2, and July was 28.3 liters
per/m2, the 9th driest month of July ever recorded at the Findel weather station. The
cumulated rain for the 2015 spring season was only 109.3 l/m2, nearly half (47%) the expected
rain for spring (1981-2010 levels averaged 206 l/m2). 129
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Agri-environmental_indicator_-
_renewable_energy_production.
129 “Information on the climate in Luxembourg in 2015,” MeteoLux, 15 January 2016.
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