EU

Pierre-Henri Carles says the French firm has already collected €70m from Italian retail investors and expects to reach €100m by the end of 2021 before turning to institutional capital.

The bloc’s farm-to-fork strategy includes strong environmental targets, but simply creating organic supply will not be enough to sustainably reconfigure its food supply chain.

The UK and the EU are now trading under the terms of the Brexit trade deal agreed in late December. The lack of widespread friction to date is an encouraging early sign.

Direction of travel signaled by the bloc over the past few years is creating a fundraising environment beneficial to start-ups and is now backed by a sustainability conscious subsidy package.

Plans to reduce use of harmful pesticide and fertilizer products, converting 25% of farmland to organic and incentivizing carbon sequestration is what the industry needs.

Agriculture and bioeconomy loan program intended to part-fund corporate projects worth €15m to €200m could provide working capital loans.

European Investment Bank will use a previous lending partnership in Kenya as a model as it extends its support to Zambia’s smallholders.

Brussels will inject €45m as well as attract private and impact investors.

MEPs demand clarity on the move, which has also been criticized by industry and investors, as UK secretary of state Michael Gove identifies gene editing as key for future farming.

In the second of a series, we ask a French union exec how he views the recent arrival of Chinese capital in his homeland.