Walloon Farmers Forced to Destroy Crops as Cadmium Contamination Crisis Deepens
Vegetable farmers in Wallonia are being forced to destroy their crops due to dangerously high levels of cadmium in the soil, according to a major investigation by RTBF. At least 12 to 14 farmers have had to destroy harvests since 2021, with an estimated 48,000 hectares of agricultural land — equivalent to three times the area of Brussels — potentially affected by the toxic heavy metal.
A Legacy of Industrial Pollution
The contamination has two primary sources. Historically, decades of non-ferrous metallurgy along the Sambre-Meuse valley blanketed surrounding soils with cadmium-laden dust. The former Prayon site in Trooz exemplifies this legacy — the hillside remains saturated with heavy metals after 150 years of industry. Walloon Environment Minister Yves Coppieters confirmed in Parliament on May 19 that “the main historical source of contamination is the fallout of dust produced by the non-ferrous metallurgical industry.”
However, Minister Coppieters noted that atmospheric industrial fallout is now “quasi inexistent.” The current primary driver of cadmium accumulation is the ongoing use of phosphate fertilizers, primarily imported from Morocco. As the minister stated, “these fertilizing materials currently represent the majority source of cadmium input into agricultural soils.”
Farmers Bear the Burden Alone
For farmers like Frédéric Bronne of Olne, the discovery was devastating. In 2021, a routine control by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) found excessive cadmium in his kale crop. “It’s a catastrophe,” Bronne told RTBF. “You question everything. Is what we’re growing still safe? Did we make a mistake?” He later told L’Avenir that the situation amounts to “political irresponsibility.”
Adrien Libois, a farmer in the Andenne region, was forced to destroy his potato and onion crops. “We’re a bit stunned to know our plots are polluted without us knowing,” he said. “We don’t work to poison people.”
Despite the scale of the crisis, no compensation mechanism exists for affected farmers. The cabinet of Minister Coppieters confirmed that “no compensation mechanism is currently planned,” citing the “polluter-pays” principle as a recurring legal obstacle. Suggested alternatives — switching to animal feed production, composting, or biomethanization — are often economically unviable for small-scale vegetable farmers.
AFSCA Controls Reveal Stark Regional Divide
In 2025, AFSCA conducted a targeted control campaign analyzing vegetables from 48 Belgian producers, 30 of them in Wallonia. The results, published on AFSCA’s official site, were stark: 11 of the 12 samples that exceeded cadmium norms came from Walloon soil, compared to just one from Flanders. While AFSCA noted that 99% of its 1,559 random food samples in 2024 complied with norms, the targeted campaign confirmed a localized but serious risk along the Sambre-Meuse axis, around Liège, and in the Pays de Herve region.
The Moroccan Phosphate Connection
Belgium’s primary source of phosphate fertilizers in 2025 is Morocco, followed by Russia, according to the European Commission. Moroccan phosphate rock is of sedimentary origin, which naturally contains higher cadmium levels than the igneous rock found in Russia or South Africa. The EU Fertilizer Regulation (2019/1009) sets a limit of 60 mg of cadmium per kilogram — a standard that France recently voted to tighten to 40 mg/kg, with a target of 20 mg/kg.
Minister Coppieters has written to his federal colleagues urging limits on the marketing of cadmium-bearing fertilizers, as reported by La Libre. Federal Agriculture Minister David Clarinval is awaiting an EU Commission report due July 16 before taking a position.
A Public Health Concern
Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It enters the body through food and tobacco, accumulates over decades, and increases the risk of kidney damage, osteoporosis, and cancer. A 2023 study by the Scientific Institute of Public Service (ISSeP) found that 95% of Walloon children tested had cadmium in their urine, with exposure levels three times higher than the 2011 national sample, as RTBF reported. Nearly 5% of Walloons have excessive levels.
Data Gaps and the Road Ahead
Remarkably, Belgium has conducted no study in 12 years measuring the actual cadmium content of phosphate fertilizers used on its crops. Researchers at ULiège-Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech are working to understand the soil-to-plant transfer mechanism, but farmers and agricultural unions are demanding long-term research funding.
Bruno Huyghebaert, Scientific Director at CRA-W, noted that “the type of farming, organic or conventional, will not have a direct influence on whether cadmium ends up in the food chain” — though a 2014 meta-analysis found organic crops contain 48% less cadmium on average.
With the EU Commission report expected on July 16 and growing political pressure following France’s lead, the coming weeks may prove decisive. For the farmers of Wallonia, however, the question remains urgent: who will pay for a crisis they did not create?