Donau Soja and Europe Soya Declarations

The Europe Soya Declaration aims to boost soya bean cultivation in Europe, bringing it even closer to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially as regards improving the world’s food supply and using natural resources sustainably.

Protein crops such as soya beans play an important role in the European agriculture and food industry. Currently, Europe imports the equivalent of around 40 million tonnes of soya beans per year from overseas, especially from the Americas, which makes Europe highly dependent on a foreign protein supply. At the same time, protein plants are grown on only 2 to 3% of European fields. However, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, large areas suitable for protein plants can be found—areas where only a few crops are cultivated throughout the year. By growing protein plants such as soya beans, peas or broad beans, farmers could introduce more variety onto their fields and use their harvest as animal feed. This would reduce dependence on feed imports from overseas and would be a chance for rural development.

Find the signed Europe Soya Declaration here.