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10 oktober 2016
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Climate is changing, food and agriculture must, too
World Food Day
At this year’s World Food Day, many note that agricultural activity and food systems must adapt to
current climate change, since only in this way will it be possible to provide secure and sustainable
food supply for global and national population.
»Climate is changing. Agriculture and food must, too.«
Proving sustainable and secure food supply, which would be in sufficient quantities physically and
economically available to all people, even in extreme situations, is becoming ever more important also due to
climate change with increasingly less reliable harvests. To be able to continue to provide food, agricultural
activity and food systems will have to adapt to current climate change and become more productive,
resilient and planned in terms of sustainable care for future generations and capacity of the
environment. Regulation of the environmental effects of agricultural activity, achieving higher levels of selfsufficiency, promotion of the use of local agricultural products and traceability of safely produced agricultural
products are becoming priorities in planning the development of agriculture in Slovenia. The main message
of FAO at this year’s World Food Day, which is celebrated on 16 October, is “Climate is changing. Food and
agriculture must, too.“
We prepared for you some interesting information on current trends in agriculture and compared them with
expert proposals to improve the security of food supply in Slovenia.
Infographic 1: Current trends in agriculture, Slovenia
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DO YOU KNOW the characteristics of conventional agriculture and its challenges?
Key characteristics and challenges of conventional agriculture are:
• Unequal global distribution of (currently still sufficient) food production
• Chemisation of agriculture
• Soil erosion
• Reduction of agricultural area due to soil sealing
• The need to produce more food (due to growing population)
• Large water consumption in agriculture and food systems (according to some estimates, for producing 1 kg
of wheat 900 litres, for producing 1 kg of maize 1,400 litres and for producing 1 kg of beef as much as 15,000
to 20,000 litres of water are needed4))
• Energy intensity
• Relatively low number of persons employed in agriculture, etc.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR with modern trends in Slovenian agriculture?
According to the latest statistical data, agricultural activity in Slovenia is characterised by:
• Performing agricultural activities in specific geographic and climate conditions is becoming more vulnerable
• The number of agricultural holdings is declining (in 20165): 70,063 or 7% less than in 2007, when the
number was 75,340); a large majority are family farms
• Agricultural holdings are mostly small (20165): 40% with less than 3 ha of utilised agricultural area; they
cultivated 10% of total utilised agricultural area)
• Large agricultural holdings (larger than 30 hectares of utilised agricultural area) account for a low share of
agricultural holdings (in 20165) only 1%)
• An average agricultural holding cultivates a larger utilised agricultural area (in 20165): 6.8 hectares or 5%
more than in 2007, when the figure was 6.5 hectares)
• The extent of utilised agricultural area per capita is declining (in 20165): 2,300 m2 per capita, in 2007: 2,400
m2 or 5% more)
• The share of agricultural holdings with organic farming in 2013 (3%) was well below the strategic target of
20% of organic agricultural holdings by 20156)
• The share of utilised agricultural area with organic farming is well below the strategic target of 15% (by
2015)6) (between 2006 and 2015 it increased from 4% to almost 7%)
• The area of arable land is declining (2006–2015: by 4%)
• The area of arable land per capita is declining (in 2015: 830 m2, in 2006: 885 m2)
• On a smaller area more wheat is produced (compared to 2006, in 2015: on 6% smaller area 17% more
wheat was produced)
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• On a smaller area more maize for grain is produced (compared to 2006, in 2015: on 5% smaller area 23%
more maize for grain was produced)
• The area of wheat per capita is also increasingly smaller (in 2006: 478 m2, in 2015: 470 m2)
• More energy consumed in agriculture (in 2015: EUR 100 million or 20% more than in 2006)
• Self-sufficiency rates are still the lowest for vegetables (in 2015: 39%), fruit (48%), potato (59%) and
cereals (73%)
• Some trends in eating habits are encouraging: vegetable consumption per capita is growing (in 2006: 96
kg, in 2015: 109 kg), while meat consumption is falling (in 2006: 96 kg, in 2015: 88 kg)
• Attitude towards food is improving (according to estimates7), in the 2010–2014 period the amount of food
waste per capita declined from 88 kg to 59 kg).
DO YOU KNOW what some experts are saying?
Despite relatively low self-sufficiency rates, Slovenia has sufficient potential in available agricultural area8) to
increase its self-sufficiency in the future.
To achieve the strategic minimum of (more) secure food supply (around 70–80% self-sufficiency rate)
according to the expert opinion, Slovenia needs to:
• Increase the extent of utilised agricultural area (to around 600,000 hectares, i.e. to 3,000 m2 of utilised
agricultural area per capita)
• Increase the extent of arable land (to around 250,000 hectares or 1,250 m2 per capita, instead of the
current 170,000 hectares or less than 900 m2 per capita)
• Increase the area of cereals by 2030 (to 140,000 hectares to achieve 700 m2 of area per capita, instead of
the current 500 m2 per capita)
• Increase the self-sufficiency rate of vegetables
• Continue to promote the development of organic farming
• Limit fodder production in lowlands
• Restore degraded farmland
• Increase the importance of small agricultural holdings and agricultural land for producing food in highlands
• Reduce the amount of food waste per capita.
Infographic 2: Selected trends in agricultural activity compared to expert proposals to improve the
security of food supply, Slovenia
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4) Source: Nierenberg, D., Halweil, B. (2005) Cultivating food security. New York, Worldwatch Institute, p.
62–77.
5) Methodological explanation: Provisional data from the Farm Structure Survey.
6) Source: Slabe, A. (2010) Kmetijska zemljišča v kontekstu trajnostnega razvoja Slovenije. Ljubljana,
Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, p.3
7) Methodological explanation: A rough statistical estimate of food waste per capita is the first attempt to
calculate the indicator, so caution is advised in using and interpreting the data. The national methodology for
calculating this indicator is being prepared.
Food waste includes the following types of waste:
02 01 02 Animal tissue waste (from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, hunting and fishing)
02 01 03 Plan tissue waste (from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, hunting and fishing)
02 02 02 Animal tissue waste (from preparation and processing of meat, fish and other foods of animal
origin)
02 03 01 Sludges from washing, cleaning, peeling, centrifuging and separation (from fruit, vegetables,
cereals, edible oils preparation and processing; from conservation; from yeast production; from preparation
and fermentation of molasses)
20 01 08 Biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste (municipal waste)
20 01 25 Edible oil and fat (municipal waste)
20 03 01 Mixed municipal waste
20 03 02 Waste from markets.
8) Source: Plut, D. (2012) Prehranska varnost sveta in Slovenije. Dela, 38, p. 5–23. DOI:
10.4312/dela.38.1.5–23
Author/s: Tina Črnigoj Marc, Špela Gale, Mojca Žitnik
Next release: 9. 10. 2017
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
Litostrojska cesta 54, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Information Centre:
phone: +386 1 241 64 04
fax: +386 1 241 53 44
[email protected]
www.stat.si/en
© Statistični urad Republike Slovenije
Use and publication of data is allowed provided the source is acknowledged.
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