The recent farmers’ protests are not an isolated incident, nor are they a temporary reaction to specific policy measures. They are also an expression of a deep and chronic crisis in rural Greece, concerning the present and future of agricultural production, local communities, and the country’s food security.
Behind the demands of the protests lies a deep-seated anxiety. Producers face a daily reality of high production costs, uncertainty, and constant changes in the institutional and economic framework, with no clear prospect of sustainability. The gap between agricultural policy and the real needs of rural communities is widening, while support mechanisms often fail to operate with transparency, fairness, and effectiveness.
These protests, therefore, are not merely about the EU subsidies system (OPEKEPE), production costs, or the price of energy. They are a message that the dominant model of rural development has reached its limits. A model that treated agriculture and livestock farming as marginal activities rather than as strategic pillars of social cohesion, food security, and environmental resilience.
In many parts of Greece, the impacts of this policy are already evident: agricultural production is struggling to remain viable, the disparities between small and large farms are widening, and the abandonment of farming is accelerating. Between 2007 and 2021, one in three small-scale farmers ceased operations, leaving behind not only fields but also communities that are gradually losing their capacity for renewal and continuity.
At the heart of this crisis lies a model of agricultural development that lacks foresight and long-term planning and traps producers in a vicious cycle of dependency. Instead of strengthening their sustainability and autonomy, it pushes them toward high-cost, high-risk practices, widening inequalities and weakening the resilience of agricultural systems.
The lack of prevention is particularly acute in livestock farming. Mass livestock culls due to zoonotic diseases highlight the absence of preventive measures, the rejection of vaccination programmes in high-risk zones, the understaffing of veterinary services, and the absence of comprehensive prevention and response plans. The cost of these failures is once again being passed on to livestock farmers and local communities, resulting in irreparable losses for production, the local economy, and the cultural heritage of Greek livestock farming.
The farmers’ protests cannot be separated from the way in which the Common Agricultural Policy has been designed and implemented over time in Greece. The CAP has been a mainstay for the agricultural sector, as EU subsidies constitute a significant portion of producers’ income. At the same time, however, the way it was implemented contributed to the formation of a model that fostered dependence on subsidies, resource concentration, and the reproduction of inequalities, without substantially enhancing the sustainability and resilience of Greek agriculture.
Distortions in the distribution of subsidies, the lack of transparency and effective oversight, as well as the failure to link financial support with actual production, protection of natural resources, and support for small and medium-sized farms, have undermined confidence in the system. Thus, rather than serving as a lever for transformation, the CAP has often functioned as a crisis management mechanism, without addressing its root causes.
Recent developments at the European level are causing growing concern, as environmental and social safeguards—which are essential for the resilience of agriculture and the protection of the public interest—are being undermined. Moving away from practices that support healthy soils, biodiversity, and functioning ecosystems does not empower producers but rather favours the concentration and industrialisation of the agrifood sector. As the debate on the next CAP is already underway, it becomes clear that its redesign must address the causes behind the current protests: support for small and medium-sized producers, transparency in subsidies management, and investment in the resilience of agricultural systems.
Considering this reality, MedINA emphasises that the current wave of protests cannot be addressed with piecemeal interventions. It requires a fundamental paradigm shift, based on transparency in the management of subsidies, practical support for small and medium-sized producers, investment in prevention and the resilience of agricultural systems, as well as the active participation of local communities in decision-making.
Greece’s agrifood heritage is both an invaluable resource and a great opportunity. Local knowledge, iconic products, traditional and sustainable landscape management systems, and rural cultural practices can form the basis for a new development model that creates value, strengthens social cohesion, and offers young people prospects in production.
In this context, the transition to a new model of agriculture and livestock farming is not merely a response to current circumstances, but a strategic choice. A choice with significant social, environmental, and economic benefits, which repositions agriculture and livestock farming at the heart of food security, rural social cohesion, and the country’s environmental resilience.