Agri-environmental governance between cooperation and conflict

This year's excursion for the "Agricultural and Environmental Governance" module in the bachelor’s degree programme in Organic Agriculture went to the Netherlands. Our western neighbours are known for their intensive and highly productive export-oriented agricultural sector, which has negative ecological and social consequences that also pose a problem for compliance with EU environmental regulations. The topic of the excursion was how governance of agricultural biodiversity can succeed, considering that the Netherlands - unlike Germany - follows a special model: Around 40 agricultural collectives all across the Netherlands organise the agri-environmental and climate measures that are financed by the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The agricultural collectives, themselves owned by farmers, act as intermediaries between individual farmers and the provincial governments that provide the funding.

Our excursion group consisted of 10 students, a doctoral student from the Section of International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance and the excursion leader. We set off westwards in two minibuses from the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences on the morning of 27 May 2024.

Our first destination was the ewe farm "Landerije De Bunte" near Hengelo (province of Overijssel). Here we were welcomed by Corney Niemeyer, Chairman of the Middle Overijssel Agricultural Collective, who gave us an introduction on the system of collective agri-environmental management (Agrarisch Natuur- en Landschapsbeheer, ANLb) and explained how he practices extensive grazing on his leasehold farm. He emphasized the social responsibility of agriculture - not only for food production, but also for the preservation of nature. As organic farming is still much more of a niche market in the Netherlands than in Germany, attempts are being made to integrate conventional and organic farmers into agricultural collectives through the specifically Dutch concept of "nature-inclusive farming".  Nature-inclusive is not a certification but describes an agricultural production system that "respects the limits of nature" - a concept that, in our view, lacks rigour compared to organic farming.

After this successful start, the group travelled on to the youth hostel near Deventer on the edge of the province of Gelderland. Here the day ended with a short documentary film on the topic of seeds.

On the second day of the excursion, the first stop on the programme was Wageningen University. The large agricultural science university impresses with its extensive, modern campus. Here, Judith Westerink, a renowned researcher specialising in agricultural biodiversity governance, gave us an in-depth lecture on the topic. She vividly described the need for coordinated action - due to the decline in insect and meadow bird populations in the Netherlands, among other things, which are causally linked to intensive agriculture. Her research also looks at the sociological aspects of agri-environmental governance, focussing on the role of intermediaries and social capital.

The next stop was an organic horticultural farm on the outskirts of Wageningen. On just one hectare, "De Ommuurde Tuin" grows vegetables for solidarity farming and runs a small shop. The garden is also an idyllic meeting place. On the tour, Esther told us about her joys and sorrows with intercropping and weeds, snails and squirrels, and proudly pointed out the more than 400 varieties that the farm produces - from lettuce and courgettes to kale and green asparagus. The farm does not use manure from farm animals - but the results of human defecation from the urine-diverting toilet are sometimes used, albeit not in the vegetable beds. The impression remains that the farm has found its niche with a lot of hard work and dedication.

Next, Hans Veurink introduced us to the "BoerenNatuur Veluwe" collective and added to our impressions of the "Dutch model" of agri-environmental management. 11,000 farms across the country are affiliated to the agricultural collectives and implement the measures - albeit on a relatively small area. The strategies used are applied to open grassland, arable land, wooded areas, and watercourses. Ten target species are particularly protected, but this should also benefit numerous other species. Veurink explains how the contracts with farms and the province come about and how results are monitored and documented. According to Veurink, the collective model, which has been in place since 2016, has considerable advantages because it allows for more targeted agri-environmental planning and at the same time significantly reduces administrative costs. At first glance, it appears to be a successful model: the Veluwe collective has grown from 328 affiliated farms in 2016 to 895 last year. However, demand is higher than the budget for the measures, so there should still be more incentives and budget to enable farms to operate in a more ecologically sustainable way.

The third and final day of the excursion was dedicated to the topics of politics and administration. The Dutch farmers' protests in 2021 led to the emergence of a new party, the populist/socially conservative Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), which opposed the government's agricultural policy and the EU's environmental regulations.  The main issue of contention here was the so-called nitrogen crisis, which the last government wanted to overcome by reducing livestock production and thus in part also by closing down farms. Since the parliamentary elections last year, the party is now also represented in the second chamber of the Generalstaten (comparable to the Bundestag). After several months of negotiations, a government coalition has now been formed consisting of the right-wing populist and far-right PVV, the new NSC party and the previous governing party, the centre-right liberal VVD, as well as the BBB as the smallest coalition partner. We have heard several times that considerable uncertainty has arisen in recent months regarding the new agricultural policy line - it is not yet clear what is to be further promoted and which political demands will be implemented.

In Arnhem, we visited the House of the Province of Gelderland. Gelderland is the largest and one of the richest provinces in the country. The provinces are subdivisions like our federal states, but with fewer powers. We received a warm welcome from the staff of the International & Public Affairs department. The group was given a guided tour of the modern administration building and visit the assembly hall of the provincial states (the regional parliament). In the afternoon, there was a discussion with the Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Harold Zoet from the BBB, who presented his views on current and upcoming agricultural policy measures. Presentations on agri-environmental projects in the province and on German-Dutch cooperation in the environmental sector rounded off the visit. The impression was that the Netherlands is currently characterised by immense dynamics in agricultural policy. As one of the speakers put it: "These are interesting times for scholars of policy - not so much for farmers..."

After a short visit to the Veluwezoom National Park, the excursion programme came to an end. With many impressions, we ventured on the journey home, which took several hours and was somewhat prolonged by heavy rain.

Preliminary conclusion: From an agricultural policy perspective, the Netherlands is a highly interesting subject of study. The European dimension of agriculture and species conservation has become very clear here. What is more: the organisational effort involved in a three-day excursion abroad - albeit to a nearby country - should not be underestimated. Nevertheless, module excursions are a wonderful way of diplaying the real-time relevance of theory and engaging in dialogue outside the seminar room.

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