Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has announced a new agreement between his department and state agencies from across the public service to work with international partner countries to strengthen food systems, food safety and sustainability globally.
The Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI) grouping has renewed the agreement which brings together Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and Teagasc with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
It will undertake projects around the world using Irish expertise to improve the productivity and effectiveness of agri-food systems, contributing to food safety, food security, resilience and sustainability.
Minister McConalogue said: “Sustainable Food Systems Ireland is rapidly growing government-to-government relationships in agri-food, which is good news when we consider the challenges of climate change and food and nutrition security.
“Ireland is a pioneer in developing cutting edge food technologies and systems. Sharing the knowledge and skills we have generated through decades of experience in planning, developing and regulating agri-food is beneficial both for Ireland and for our international partners, as they invest in strengthening their own food systems.”
Cooperation
SFSI’s founding organisations have also signed new agreements in 2021 to extend the reach of Irish knowledge-sharing and technical cooperation in agri-food.
In July, a new Memorandum of Understanding was concluded between SFSI and the UN specialised agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
SFSI has also expanded its African activities through an agreement between Teagasc and its Tanzanian counterpart, the Tanzanian Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI), an agency of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, with support from the Embassy of Ireland in Dar Es Salaam.
Minister McConalogue added: “Earlier this year, I launched the new 10-year roadmap for the agri-food sector, Food Vision 2030. In the strategy, Ireland has committed to become a world leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade.
“I’m delighted that Irish state agencies and my department have renewed their commitment to applying Irish skills to support other countries to meet the challenges of food security, protection of food safety, improving animal health and making our global food system more resilient.
“SFSI’s expanding portfolio of projects turns those commitments into tangible action. The deepening of Ireland’s relationships with the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the expansion of knowledge sharing relationships in East Africa are particularly encouraging,” the minister added.
Donal Brown, IFAD associate vice-president of the Programme Management Department added: “Ireland’s global leadership role in support of sustainable food systems is more important than ever if we want to achieve zero hunger by 2030.
“IFAD looks forward to working with SFSI and benefitting from Ireland’s technical expertise to jointly build sustainable food systems that provide nutritious and affordable food, improve small-scale farmers’ livelihoods and enhance their resilience to climate change.”
International fund for Agricultural Development
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a United Nations agency.
It invests in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security and escape poverty by taking charge of their own development, expanding their businesses and livelihoods and building resilience.
DAFM has said that the IFAD-SFSI agreement will increase collaboration and use Ireland’s expertise in areas like project design and supervision, capacity building, training and skills and co-development of knowledge products.
Ireland was a founder member of IFAD and currently occupies a seat on the IFAD Executive Board.
In Tanzania, with support from the Embassy of Ireland in Dar Es Salaam, Teagasc and TALIRI, two government bodies, are undertaking targeted joint work to improve the productivity and sustainability of Tanzanian dairy farmers.
This is done, for example, through new research and demonstration projects on cattle breeds and the production and conservation of locally grown forages.
This will contribute to Tanzania’s goal to improve its food security, nutrition and resilience by improving the productivity of smallholder dairy systems.