Politicians can easily leave policy implementation to the sector

The elections are fast approaching. Have you decided how you want to vote? I have, I actually already decided after the results of the last election. We all hope, of course, that a new government will be in place soon after this election, one that will also quickly come up with solutions, or at least a clear policy. Especially in agriculture and horticulture, we've longed for a clear picture of what's truly expected of us so that entrepreneurs can get started instead of having to wait.

So, a new cabinet is coming, and it will have different priorities than the current one. I especially hope they'll be able to make some clear choices and outline the requirements for agricultural and horticultural businesses in the future. But that's not even the half of the story. These clear choices still need to be translated into policy, and then that policy needs to be implemented. The government has struggled, or should I say rarely, if ever, to take these last two steps.

Antibiotic approach
Things used to be different. No, not everything was better in the past, but much was different. We had an Agricultural Board and various Product Boards to translate political decisions into policy and implementation. This translation was carried out through the Agricultural Board and the Product Boards, working with the entire sector, with the goal of creating workable, feasible, and results-oriented policies. The added advantage was that politicians didn't have to interfere with excessively detailed regulations. Policy based on political choices, but implemented in consultation with the practical side of things, naturally has a much greater chance of success than an imposed diktat. Incidentally, we don't have to go back to the days of the Agricultural Board to find good examples of what I mean. The most successful and recent example is the entire antibiotics approach in all livestock farming sectors. The government wanted to significantly reduce antibiotic use, and the sector feared unworkable regulations. So, the challenge was taken up to establish robust, yet practice-oriented, regulations. With these regulations, the government's goal of a significant reduction in antibiotic use could be achieved. To give the sector the opportunity to set standards and formulate policy independently, independent of the political whims of the day, the Veterinary Medicines Authority (SDa) was established. The entire sector has been able and willing to take responsibility because it is also involved in translating political choices into policy and practical implementation.

Greenhouse horticulture
Something similar has happened in greenhouse horticulture, but not quite. Energy consumption and, consequently, CO₂ emissions are a major issue in the sector. The horticultural sector isn't afraid of a challenge either, and that's why they've taken on the challenge themselves, with the ambition to be climate neutral by 2040, with interim targets, including 2030. Despite having signed an agreement with the government to this end, that same government is once again scuttling that agreement with new policies (ETS-2 and the green gas blending requirement). The difference with the antibiotics approach, in my opinion, lies in the fact that politicians didn't give the sector the target, as they did with antibiotics. There, a literal percentage was agreed upon by which antibiotic use had to be reduced. The "how" was left up to the sector, but the government also gave the sector a tool to not only implement and monitor policy, but also to intervene if necessary: ​​the SDa!

This last point is precisely what's lacking in horticulture. This isn't a criticism of the greenhouse horticulture organizations or the growers themselves, but I believe this is the crux of the matter. So I hope a new cabinet will make some clear choices, with a clear direction for how they want policy to be shaped. But above all, that they have the courage to leave the detailed formulation of policy and its implementation to the sector. A crucial condition for this is that the sector is also given the tools and the executive power to take on this responsibility. The SDa is a very good example of this. Perhaps the entire antibiotics approach is the most successful policy of the past decades, where both the government and the sector have taken and implemented their own responsibilities. Let's learn from our successes!

Alex Datema

Alex Datema is Director of Food & Agri at Rabobank and also a dairy farmer in Briltil (Groningen). In his opinion articles he outlines his vision on the agricultural sector and the food system.

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