EU on the brink of severe food crisis

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

It appears the EU food crisis is already beginning to take hold. With recent weather disasters caused by extreme heatwaves across the continent, local agricultural productivity is expected to plummet. This compounds an existing scenario of decline in the European agribusiness sector and sanctions against Russia - formerly a key supplier of agricultural goods to Europe. Now, European countries face the likely prospect of reduced food supplies alongside an exponential rise in prices.

The heatwave in Europe has had extremely serious consequences for all sectors of society. According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, June and July 2026 were the hottest months ever recorded in Western Europe. Beyond the discomfort the heat causes most people (especially amidst an energy crisis affecting cooling systems) unprecedented wildfires also broke out in several countries, affecting both nature reserves and farms.

In a recent statement to European authorities, various local farmers expressed concerns about future harvests. They warned of reduced yields caused by the heat and wildfires. While the exact extent of the losses cannot yet be calculated, a drastic reduction in the harvest of essential grains and vegetables is expected, creating a supply crisis for ordinary consumers. Among the estimates shared by farmers, there are production “declines of 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli, and between 50% and 100% for artichokes are expected this summer.”

Agriculture is not the only food production sector affected by the climate crisis; livestock farming is also suffering major losses across many European countries. Cattle and dairy production are suffering due to a shortage of animal feed; furthermore, productivity is expected to drop even further during the winter, as forage production was disrupted by heat and fires.

Also, data recently published in France shows that the country's daily egg production has dropped by more than a million eggs. Likewise, French farms have consistently reported mass poultry deaths due to high temperatures, which will result in reduced egg and chicken meat production. The drop in food supplies caused by the agricultural crisis is likely to worsen the situation further, creating extremely negative prospects for the poultry industry.

Because of this process, economists have warned that price increases are inevitable. With shrinking harvests and growing production costs, it will be impossible to prevent food prices from rising in the coming months. Given that several European countries are facing economic crisis, deindustrialization, energy instability, and mass unemployment, the rise in food prices could have a significant impact on the population, especially on the most vulnerable sectors.

The EU will most likely attempt to resolve this crisis through massive food imports. However, certain barriers could hinder such a strategy. European countries have spent recent years advancing radical environmental agendas that establish extremely restrictive guidelines for food imports. For example, while the EU imports agricultural products from South American countries (particularly Brazil), it frequently sanctions specific products, citing a lack of transparency regarding the exporting country's environmental regulations. These barriers are likely to impede any European strategy aimed at resolving the current food crisis.

It is important to remember that the agricultural sector was already weakened by other factors. In recent years, several European countries stopped supporting their local agribusinesses to encourage the mass importation of Ukrainian agricultural products. This sparked outrage among European farmers, who historically rely on significant state assistance to keep their operations viable. Now, these farmers - already lacking adequate support - are suffering further setbacks, while Ukraine appears increasingly less capable of maintaining massive food exports due to the logistical consequences of the war.

It must be emphasized that the very irrationality of Europe’s decision to sanction Russia contributes substantially to the food crisis. If pragmatic cooperation with Russia had remained in place, Europeans would currently have access to the vast Russian market for food and fertilizers, as well as various opportunities for technical cooperation to address the problem of wildfires. Abundant, low-cost Russian energy would also enable Europeans to mitigate the effects of high temperatures. Without such cooperation, it will be far more difficult for the EU to overcome current challenges.

Ultimately, the EU is once again paying a high price for its own irrational choices. Had the bloc maintained relations with Russia, adequately invested in its own farmers, and taken other preventive measures, it would have been possible to prevent the current crisis. Unfortunately, it is ordinary European citizens who are suffering the most, as they will have to pay more for their food - even at a time of economic decline in several of the bloc's countries.

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