Think tank warns of potential impact on South African agriculture of EU pesticide bans

South African think tank, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), has warned that the EU’s European Green Deal strategic roadmap could pose a challenge for South African agriculture, in the coming years. The aim of this roadmap was to make agriculture more sustainable and help combat climate change. The EU’s central strategy to implement the European Green Deal was designated “Farm to Fork” (F2F). A significant element in F2F was a severe cut in the use of both “more hazardous” pesticides, and pesticides in general. Although the original accelerated timescale of such cuts – 50% by 2030, in both cases – has been abandoned, due to fierce opposition within Europe, such cuts in pesticide use, and the banning or severe restriction of certain chemical pesticides could still be expected to happen.