Danube Watch 2/2016 - Sustainable agriculture to reduce nutrient pollution

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Sustainable agriculture to reduce nutrient pollution

After successfully integrating river basin management with sector policies such as energy, transport and adaptation to climate change, the ICPDR will develop a guidance document to balance the needs of agricultural production and economic sustainability with the environmental needs of the river basin.

The ICPDR guidelines on agriculture would promote two main development options according to land productivity: sustainable intensification of agricultural production in the favourable areas, and ecological landscape management in less favourable areas.
© GWP CEE/Majercakova

The ICPDR has achieved significant progress in cross-cutting issues – such as inland navigation, sustainable hydropower and climate change adaptation – resulting in key strategic documents adopted by the Danube countries. Agriculture, however, has not yet been fully addressed at the basin-wide level, although its strong relation to water management issues in the Danube River Basin has been long recognised.

To appropriately tackle this issue, the Danube Declaration (adopted at the ICPDR Ministerial Meeting in February 2016) asks the ICPDR “to organise in close cooperation with the agricultural sector and all relevant stakeholders a broad discussion process with the aim of developing an ICPDR Guidance document on agricultural practices towards the reduction of water pollution caused or induced by nutrients from agricultural sources and the prevention of such pollution in the Danube River Basin”.

Agriculture and the environment. Careful balancing between social, economic and environmental interests is essential when common issues of water and agriculture are addressed. Past experiences have clearly showed that improving the socio-economic situation in the agricultural sector is a prerequisite to successfully implement agro-environmental policies. Although agriculture is substantially subsidised by the EU and the national governments, the sector is facing socio-economic challenges. In many regions, agricultural production intensity is low due to the unfavourable economic situation. In areas where land productivity is low, farmers often face socio-economic difficulties as agriculture in these regions may not be competitive at all.

Environmental concerns are also related to agriculture since nutrients have been released from agricultural areas of the basin in significant amounts during past decades. Currently, agriculture is responsible for 42% and 28% of the basin-wide total nitrogen and phosphorus emissions of the surface waters, respectively, and the share is expected to grow in the near future as more enhanced technologies are put in place at urban waste water treatment plants. The Black Sea, which ultimately receives the waters of the Danube Basin, is sensitive to eutrophication and the severe eutrophic conditions of the late 1980s might arise again if agriculture is intensified without being managed sustainably.

Environmental solutions to benefit farmers. Although there are a variety of legislative and economic tools in place which aim to protect the environment from agricultural pollution while supporting sustainable agricultural production, a sound strategic guidance document on sustainable agriculture for the Danube River Basin is still missing. This guidance document would disentangle the intensification and development of agriculture from increasing nutrient emissions into surface waters. In addition to ensuring an effective protection of the Danube River Basin water bodies and the Black Sea coastal waters, it would also promote the sustainable development of agriculture, thus avoiding economic disadvantages for farmers.

As a first step towards these guidelines, the ICPDR Nutrient Task Group (NTG) – in close cooperation with the agricultural sector and all relevant stakeholders – will organise a broad discussion process to develop a guidance document on sustainable agriculture to reduce nutrient pollution in the basin. This activity would shift the traditional approach of regulative enforcement against farmers to a new perspective of economic benefits for farmers. The ICPDR guidance paper would recommend good agricultural practices and sound policy instruments for decision makers in the agro-environmental policy field in order to protect the waters in the Danube River Basin.

The recommendations would not duplicate the provisions of existing legislation regarding the implementation of basic measures (such as the Nitrates Directive or the cross-compliance of the Common Agricultural Policy) but would help countries to better identify, target and finance efficient supplementary measures to combat diffuse nutrient pollution. This would ensure the effective protection of both the surface and ground water bodies of the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea coastal waters as well as a balanced agricultural production and economic sustainability for the farmers in the Danube countries.

A joint process for inclusive results. The guidance document could help Danube countries to better tailor national policies in order to be more efficient in reducing nutrient load and in preventing new pollution hot-spots. It could also facilitate dialogues between water and agricultural sectors to jointly develop and implement sustainable agricultural practices. The Danube countries should be able to adopt the recommendations provided by the guidelines in an inclusive way, ensuring that the interests of differing groups of stakeholders and the substantial natural and socio-economic regional differences in the basin are taken into consideration. The guidelines would promote two main development options according to land productivity: sustainable intensification of agricultural production in the favourable areas, and ecological landscape management in less favourable areas.

© GWP CEE/Majercakova

From the beginning of the discussions, it will be essential to have the participation of concerned partners and stakeholders within the Danube River Basin, including national and EU administration bodies and other competent organisations, the farming community, academia, international organisations, soil and agriculture experts, agro-economists, and other river basin or marine commissions. The elaboration of the document will be supported by a specific study to develop a knowledge base on agriculture as well as by regular expert meetings, broad stakeholder workshops and a public consultation and dissemination process. The guidance paper is expected to be finalised in 2018.

Adam Kovacs is the Technical Expert on Pollution Control at the ICPDR.