Short chain supported by Rabobank Zuid-Limburg Oost

The innovative LOF program works on short chains and direct sales lines by bringing farmers and buyers together. One of the parties supporting the LOF program is Rabobank Zuid-Limburg Oost. In an interview, Board Chairman Alphons Kurstjens explains why.

Alphons Kurstjens

The Rabobanks Central South Limburg and Parkstad Limburg merged this spring under the banner of Rabobank South Limburg East. With this, Alphons Kurstjens made the transition from the Chairman of the Board of Rabobank Amsterdam to the same position in South Limburg East. For ten years, he managed the local Rabobank in the capital, with some 200,000 clients.

In the capital, Kurstjens has worked hard to create a more sustainable regional food system. According to Kurstjens, the short chain, from farmyard to table, leads to fewer links. As a result, the same price for a product can leave a little more for the producer. "It would be nice if farmers were also rewarded for nature and landscape management."

Kurstjens was born in Steyl and raised in Weert. In his youth he regularly worked on a farm in the area. He describes himself as a course-setter, cut from entrepreneurial cloth.

Intensive food production

"Never hungry again. Immediately after World War II, this was the adage of Sicco Mansholt, the then Minister of Food. The agricultural policy of the time proved to be a breeding ground for a strongly growing agricultural sector in the Netherlands in the second half of the twentieth century. But the social and political climate seems to be turning three-quarters of a century later.

Intensive food production is accompanied by a decline in biodiversity and leads to various problems. And large-scale import and export create a large ecological footprint, Alphons Kurstjens remembers from his days as chairman of the board at Rabobank Amsterdam.

"We had Wageningen University & Research calculate what it takes in terms of transport kilometers to deliver an average Amsterdam meal to your home. 33,000 kilometers," says Kurstjens. A solution is partly hidden in local food. "The oft-repeated 'where does our food come from?" creates a new demand in the market. But that regional food market, with its logistics, distribution and auctions, no longer exists."

Is the South Limburg situation comparable to the Randstad?

"Yes, we have about 600,000 inhabitants here. The demand for locally produced food will grow. A healthy mixed agricultural sector with a diverse landscape is also very important for this tourist region."

How can farmers and gardeners serve a regional market?

"That is a complex issue. There is a lack of regional infrastructure and almost everyone produces directly for the world market. How nice would it be if the potatoes we eat here actually come from South Limburg and we would process our own milk here?"

Within the LOF program, farmers, horticulturalists and health care institutions are trying to set up a short chain together. With attention to healthy food from local soil and a fair price. How do you assess this?

"It is very interesting to first bundle the demand for food, from the business world or the care sector. Scale is needed to make it logistically interesting. In fact, tapping into the regional market is a system change. It will not be achieved overnight."

What is so difficult about that?

"Entrepreneurs have to organize it all themselves, outside the regular system. That requires huge efforts and investments that may only be recouped in the longer term."

What is Rabobank's involvement in the LOF program?

"We support the master classes and boot camps that bring farmers and potential customers together. It is impossible for an individual fruit grower or dairy farmer to suddenly start serving a regional market. You need collaborations for that."

What is your interest in contributing to this?"

"An important part of our customers are farmers and market gardeners. Based on our mission, we support them in the current transition they are going through, partly to achieve better earning models. If they are doing well, that is also better for the bank. So there's also a bit of self-interest in this."

Farmers and horticulturalists have recently been critical of Rabobank, particularly in relation to the financing of production expansion for the global market. Are you taking this criticism seriously?

"As a bank we can't see into a crystal ball. In any case, this has made the Netherlands a top player in the agrifood market. Nowhere is production as efficient and advanced as in the Netherlands. We are a leading country in this respect. Now we are also seeing a turnaround. Agriculture contributes to global CO2 emissions and we now have a clear view of the nitrogen problem."

Do you know of a striking example of a successful short chain in Limburg?

"The Gulpener Beer Brewery. It started in the late 1990s by buying raw materials from local farmers. Now beer is brewed with barley, wheat, rye and spelt from the immediate surroundings. About thirty farmers have united in the cooperative Triligran and get a fair price for their products.

"The brewery uses water from its own wells and sustainably generated energy. It is the most sustainable specialty beer brewery in Europe. This example translates to regional wine, dairy and regional meat."

Are you against further increases in scale?"

"I am in favor of different earning models for farmers and growers. They can produce for the global, national and regional market. If one farmer stops, another can grow. I hope that we, as a country, will remain self-sufficient in food production and have an eye for the innovation and employment that agriculture and horticulture create.

"In addition, a number of products are very suitable to produce and export here. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the detrimental effects of production. I am not an expert who can make statements about exactly how much we can produce in the Netherlands. I think the crux of the matter is to find a new balance."

Source: New Harvest