Metrology and quality management

Demographic growth in countries south of the Mediterranean, combined with the recent migratory upheaval emanating from conflicts in the Middle East, accelerates the urban growth and the spatial concentration of populations on coastlines and estuary zones. According to consistent findings from several foresight studies conducted by the Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM), the National Research Agency of France (ANR) and the Mediterranean World Economic Foresight Institute (IPEMED), these areas concentrate significant fertile agricultural land but will host 50 million more inhabitants within the coming 25 years. Both urban demand for food and the pressure on natural resources are rising fast. Local agricultural production of cereals, meat and dairy products is increasingly inadequate to satisfy population requirements. Growing imports of food staples are resulting in food dependency and insecurity for the majority of southern and eastern Mediterranean countries. The political, economic and social crisis of the 2011 Arab revolutions brought significant difficulties for resource access and management to the fore, leading for example to water shortages, in spite of water availability (less than 500 m3 per inhabitant each year). In conflict situations, competition for resources involves a deregulation of the distribution systems which have long been operating and are the result of complex negotiations between actors to measure consumed quantities and delineate their usage. Under these conditions, the use of fossil vs renewable energy affects not only the quality of agricultural products but also the quality and safety of marketed and processed products. In order to address these problems, issues which need to be taken quickly into consideration include reducing the negative impact of agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry on the environment, and enhancing positive effects such as carbon storage, soil and plant cover stabilization, or the reduction of runoff and erosion. In other words, agricultural practices which are adapted to changing climate conditions need to be initiated. This requires developing qualitative and quantitative measurement mechanisms negotiated between relevant stakeholders in order to ensure sustainability. Reliable metrics will allow for the efficient measurement of the impact of agriculture and help design agricultural policies targetting environmental protection.