On 13 January, Fairkoperativ, a cooperative of dairy farmers in Luxembourg, hosted Minister of Agriculture Martine Hansen and the new European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, for a screening of the documentary “Trainée de poudre”.

The screening of the documentary was followed by a discussion and Q & A session with the director Patrick Remacle and farmers from the following Fair Milk projects: D’fair Mëllech from Luxembourg, Fairebel from Belgium and FaireFrance from France.

This documentary follows individuals who are fighting to change a broken system that is harmful to both European and African farmers. Since the abolition of quotas, the dairy sector has faced recurring crises that are caused by – among other factors – overproduction. These surpluses, which are partly turned into fat-filled milk powder containing vegetable oil, are exported to African countries and have serious consequences for producers on both continents. It means that producer prices in Europe collapse, while local producers in Africa are marginalised by this milk powder that floods their market and creates unfair competition.

Dairy farmers in several European countries decided to take matters into their own hands and created their Fair Milk brand: D’fair Mëllech in Luxembourg, Fairebel in Belgium, FaireFrance in France, Die faire Milch in Germany, Faireswiss and Di fair Milch Säuliamt in Switzerland. The Fair Milk project is living proof that fair remuneration in the dairy sector is possible.

In Luxembourg, the farmers of Fairkoperativ have been advocating for fair, local, family farming since 2011 with their brand “D’fair Mëllech”. This commitment is not limited by borders, explains Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz, President of Fairkoperativ: “As milk producers in Luxembourg, we want to show solidarity with our African colleagues by sharing our skills and know-how. With the support of Luxdev, farmers from D’fair Mëllech and Fairebel have contributed funds to set up a dairy in Burkina Faso, so that local producers can sell their products under the Fairefaso brand and secure their future.”

Consumers can also support fairer farming for producers on both continents. In fact, D’fair Mëllech works in close collaboration with Fairtrade. By purchasing their chocolate milk and three flavours of ice cream, consumers guarantee fair remuneration not only for dairy farmers in Luxembourg, but for cacao producers in Ghana as well.

The dairy farmers present at the screening underscored the importance of such projects and called on the new European Commissioner to finally implement the structural reforms needed to ensure that the dairy sector is not hit by recurring crises, and it can, once again, offer the next generation prospects.

Danielle Warmerdam-Frantz, farmer and President of Fairkoperativ

Just before the Christmas holidays – on 17 December 2024 – a very interesting article was published in the “Schweizer Bauer” trade magazine called “Butter imports: here’s how much money was made”. It looked at the millions earned by the Swiss Confederation in customs duties from the thousands of tonnes of butter imported to Switzerland between 2020 and 2023.

Alongside several Walloon and European agricultural organisations, MIG is taking a firm stance against the free-trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries. This agreement poses a direct threat to agriculture, the environment and food security in Europe by nullifying all sustainability efforts.

Representatives of several farmers’ associations have criticised Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an open letter. They accuse him of stepping on the brakes in the negotiations currently taking place in Brussels to introduce a European contractual obligation for the milk sector. Together they called upon Scholz to take a clear, resolute stance at the EU Agriculture Council at the end of January in order to improve the negotiating position of dairy farmers on the European level.