Walloon Farmers Urge Climate Risk Reform After Devastating Storms
Intense thunderstorms that swept across Wallonia on May 30 have reignited calls for a fundamental overhaul of Belgium’s agricultural disaster compensation system, with the Walloon Federation of Agriculture (FWA) demanding that farmers no longer bear the burden of climate risks alone.
The storms dumped up to 120 litres of rain per square metre in localized areas between eastern Charleroi, the Basse-Sambre region, and southern Brabant Wallon, accompanied by hailstones measuring 4 to 5 centimetres in diameter. The Val de Sambre fire brigade zone reported nearly 1,000 interventions, including numerous water rescues, as roads flooded and residents were evacuated from rooftops.
Disaster Fund Activated
The Walloon Region’s expertise cell (CELEX) classified the event as “extraordinary” and triggered the procedure for recognition under the Agricultural Disaster Fund (Fonds des Calamités), as reported by RTBF. The disaster decree requires a minimum of 35 l/m² in one hour or 70 l/m² in 24 hours for recognition — thresholds that were far exceeded in the worst-affected areas.
Speaking on La Première radio’s Le Monde en Direct programme, FWA Secretary-General Benoît Haag warned that the current compensation system is no longer fit for purpose. “This system of compensation for agricultural disasters is today exhausted because it was not designed to be called upon so often and so significantly,” Haag said, as quoted by RTBF.
A System Under Strain
The numbers illustrate the scale of the challenge. According to data from the Walloon Public Service for Agriculture (SPW Agriculture), disaster claims surged from 650 open files in 2015 to more than 5,000 in 2017. Since 2015, the Walloon government has paid out €28 million in agricultural disaster indemnities, a figure that continues to climb as extreme weather events become more frequent.
Haag noted that spring crops — beet, maize, potatoes, and vegetables — are particularly vulnerable at this time of year. “The plants are still very, very fragile at this stage of the year, like in vegetable gardens where plants are young and do not yet cover the entire soil surface,” he explained. “So the soil is much more subject to erosion.”
A Public-Private Solution
The FWA is advocating for a public-private partnership (PPP) between insurers and public authorities to spread risk and premium costs more equitably. “We need to move toward another partnership between society and farmers to manage these climate risks so that they do not have to bear them alone,” Haag said. “Ultimately, if the system is well designed, it could cost regional authorities much less.”
The proposal revives a debate that has been ongoing since at least 2019, when the Walloon government first explored a mixed public-private model. As RTBF reported at the time, Flanders has been moving toward full privatization, requiring farmers to take out private insurance for weather-related losses, while Wallonia has favoured a hybrid approach.
Preventive Measures and CAP Reform
Farmers are already implementing preventive measures, including cover crops, grass strips at the bottom of slopes, and compartmentalization between potato ridges to slow water runoff. However, Haag noted that starting in 2027, new measures under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will condition farmers’ access to subsidies on the implementation of these good agricultural practices.
L’Avenir reported extensive damage across Hainaut, Brabant Wallon, and Namur provinces, with the Basse-Sambre region particularly hard-hit. The Walloon crisis centre (CORTEX) has initiated procedures with the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM) to formally assess the exceptional nature of the event.
What’s Next
The immediate focus remains on assessing damage and processing compensation claims through the existing disaster fund. But the FWA’s intervention has sharpened the political debate over the long-term sustainability of the current system. With climate projections indicating more frequent and intense rainfall events, the question of who bears the financial risk — farmers, insurers, or the state — is becoming increasingly urgent.
The Walloon government has yet to formally respond to the FWA’s PPP proposal, but the growing frequency of disaster fund activations suggests that reform may no longer be optional.