French Farmers Awaiting Drought Relief Payments as Adaptation Funding Lags, RFI Reports

French farmers are expecting the first payments from the government's "Casi" plan, which covers heatwaves, drought, and wildfires, in the coming days, according to a report by RFI.

The plan has been announced at more than one billion euros, but RFI reported that the funding is disconnected from the real needs of the agricultural sector, with investment in adapting farms to increasingly frequent extreme weather lagging well behind what is required. The report did not specify the exact gap between the announced funding and the sums farming groups say are needed.

Industry Proposes Alternatives

According to RFI, figures from within the agricultural sector have put forward their own proposals for addressing both the immediate costs of recurring climate-related crises and the longer-term task of financing adaptation measures on farms.

The report noted that the discussion is unfolding as the European Union's next Common Agricultural Policy framework is being negotiated in Brussels, a process that will shape how farm subsidies and climate adaptation funding are structured across the bloc in the years ahead. RFI did not report a specific decision point for that negotiation.