European food systems rank among the world's most resilient, but structural vulnerabilities risk eroding gains

European food systems rank among the world's most resilient, but structural vulnerabilities risk eroding gains

A new report from Economist Enterprise, supported by Cargill, finds Europe among the world's most resilient food systems, but warns that gaps in irrigation, cold-chain capacity and trade friction could let shocks cascade from farm gates to grocery shelves.

*LONDON, October, 2026*, A new report from Economist Enterprise, supported by Cargill, finds Europe among the world's most resilient food systems, but highlights that vulnerabilities could allow shocks to cascade from farm gates to grocery shelves. With Europe accounting for more than a fifth of global food exports, the region continues to serve as a strong global food anchor, but today's resilience cannot be taken for granted. Rising pressures on its foundations must be managed before vulnerabilities arise.

That warning comes as extreme heat, wildfires and drought have challenged European agriculture this summer.

The Resilient Food Systems Index (RFSI) benchmarks 60 countries across six regions on four pillars, affordability, availability, quality and safety, and climate risk responsiveness. The new Europe analysis unpacks the findings for the 14 European countries in the Index (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom), identifying strengths and vulnerabilities in Europe's food system resilience.

Key findings:

• Affordable, abundant food, but fragilities remain in the supply chain: The region scores 77.51 on dietary diversity, 18 points above the global average and 81.26/100 on affordability.
• Open trade contributes to keeping the supply of diverse food steady. Sustaining these gains now depends on managing non-tariff barriers: Europe scores 81.16 on sufficiency of supply and is the world's strongest-performing region on open, diverse agricultural trade (73.79), with import diversification (83.6) beating every other top-ten global importer. But non-tariff measures, divergent certification, inspection and product standards, are adding costs and delays that could erode that advantage.
• Yield volatility is rising and productivity gains have weakened: Europe has seen higher year-on-year volatility in agricultural production than any region bar North America, driven in part by water scarcity: just 41.53/100 on irrigation infrastructure against high water-quantity risk (19.12).
• Despite the region investing in basic farm enablers and agri-tech, productivity strains threaten long-term resilience. Only three of the index's European countries recorded faster average annual productivity growth in 2018-22 than in the preceding five years.
• Make agri-food innovation demonstrations and scale-up easier to finance: Europe-14 leads the index on public agricultural R&D spending (50.75 vs a global average of 31.08), yet venture capital spending on agri-food innovation fell from US$9.2bn to US$4.04bn in 2025.

The report calls for easier-to-finance demonstrations and scale-up, using innovation funds, co-investment vehicles and loan guarantees to crowd in private capital and for underwriting tools that de-risk low-carbon innovation.

Quote for use, attributable to Pratima Singh, lead researcher on the Resilient Food Systems Index at Economist Enterprise:

"Europe's strong score in the Resilient Food Systems Index reflects solid foundations, but those foundations are under strain. Productivity is being squeezed by rising input costs, climate risks and geopolitical instability. Beyond the farmgate, distribution and logistics infrastructure, particularly cold chain capacity, is also under pressure.

The challenge is to build a system that can anticipate, absorb and adapt to future shocks. Fit-for-purpose investment and innovation can close these gaps, but no single actor can do it alone. Strengthening resilience will take action across the whole value chain, from producers and processors to retailers, financiers, technology providers and policymakers."

Quote for use, attributable to Geert Maesmans, Vice President of Food Research and Development, EMEA at Cargill:

"Resilience means giving every part of the value chain the options to keep producing as conditions change. That depends on innovation that can scale across the food system, and on a willingness to learn and share. No one can build resilience alone.

It also requires investment models that share risk and reward more transparently. Farmers need commercially viable ways to adapt, backed by clear policy signals, reliable partners and incentives that recognise their role in the transition. When investment, policy and industry action are aligned, innovation is more likely to scale and strengthen Europe's food systems."

Available for interview:

• Pratima Singh, researcher and report author, Economist Enterprise
• Geert Maesmans, Vice President of Food Research and Development, EMEA at Cargill

Full Europe report available for download here: https://insights.economistenterprise.com/energy-environment/resilient-food-systems-index

About the Resilient Food Systems Index: The RFSI is Economist Enterprise's inaugural benchmarking model, evaluating food-system resilience in 60 countries across 71 qualitative and quantitative indicators. Supported by Cargill. Economist Enterprise is solely responsible for the views expressed in the report.

The Resilient Food Systems Index was recognised by the 2026 World Media Group Awards as the winner of the Social Good category.