Four organizations have set up two working groups to find ways, including changes to the law, to secure Bulgaria's food sovereignty. They announced the move at a press conference at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia, held after the first National Round Table on Food Sovereignty through Efficient Agriculture. The initiative comes from the National Movement "People's Sovereignty", the "Bulgarian Common Market" National Cooperative, the Public Academy of Science, Education and Culture, and the "Bulgarian Measure" National Chamber.
The first working group will review current laws and propose changes to Bulgaria's constitution. Raychin Rachev, a member of the group, said the goal is to use the constitution to make it the duty of state institutions and the authorities to guarantee food security and food sovereignty for Bulgaria.
The second group's job is to draw up a short list of priority steps and proposals to reverse the negative trends in farming. Both groups will work together with parliament's agriculture, food and forestry committee, the agriculture ministry and industry groups.
An expert meeting on October 3, which ran for more than eight hours, laid the groundwork for the two groups. More than 40 people took part, including state officials, farm policy experts, producers, heads of associations, scientists, former and current agriculture ministers, and experts on the EU's common agricultural policy. Rumen Spasov, who took part in the initiative, said the meeting ranked the problems stopping Bulgarian farms from producing competitive goods, and set out specific steps to fix them.
Rachev said the shrinking amount of farmland threatens Bulgaria's independence in food and its ability to feed its people. He said the country has lost just over 25% of its farmland between 1989 and 2025. The area fell from 46,512,000 decares in 1989 to 34,676,000 decares now.