The current Flemish agriculture and food system is not sustainable on an ecological, social and economic level. For example, the impact of Flemish agriculture on the environment is significant, where the use of pesticides, nutrient pollution through fertilization and the increasingly intensive use of soil and other natural resources have led to plummeting biodiversity, waterways and nature in poor ecological condition and degraded soils. At the same time, agriculture is experiencing the wider impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. Farmers are additionally not in a good position on a social and economic level, with tough working conditions, small margins, a weak negotiating position, a lack of appreciation and increasingly strict administrative conditions putting farmers under increasing pressure.

Agricultural policy at European, Belgian and Flemish level has largely shaped current Flemish agriculture, with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) pushing the sector towards technological innovation, economies of scale and specialization through market interventions, investment mechanisms, subsidy flows, quotas and income support, but leading to the agricultural system eventually colliding with planetary boundaries as its social and economic foundations began to weaken.

The call for a different system is becoming louder. Agroecology is increasingly being looked at as an alternative in which the agricultural system is redesigned on the basis of ecological and social principles. In addition to the role of farmers, processors and citizens in this agroecological transition, policy makers are viewed with anticipation given the important role of public policy in the transition to a more sustainable agricultural and food system.  Although agricultural policy promises to make agriculture more sustainable, it still pushes many farmers and citizens towards unsustainable production and consumption practices and the many market interventions, investment mechanisms and subsidy flows even structurally maintain the current system.

In this study, the financial flows from the various governments towards the Flemish agricultural sector are characterized and quantified, including the relevant subsidy schemes, taxation and (emergency) support measures. In addition, the environmental impact and externalities of the current Flemish agricultural system are mapped. It moreover examines the direction in which current financing is driving the agricultural system and the extent to which it can be adapted to align with environmental objectives, with particular attention paid to which actors, companies, subsectors and business types are advantaged or disadvantaged respectively.