Newry and Armagh DUP assembly member, William Irwin has said the importance of food security in Northern Ireland cannot be overstated.
Irwin said the war in Ukraine, inflation and the general costs of energy globally, are contributing to bring enormous pressure on all aspects of life and said ensuring our food security of supply “must be prioritised”.
“In Northern Ireland we pride ourselves in being a region where food production standards are high and our quality of product is extremely high.
“With inflation impacting on the price of food and energy costs rocketing, there is an immense importance in ensuring that our security of supply is robust and well supported to ensure that producers are getting a fair return.
“This will of course benefit everyone in Northern Ireland.”
Food security and food production
According to Irwin, the input costs rise now facing farmers is well documented and hugely concerning for anyone in food production.
“With a very concerning global shortage of fertiliser, this will inevitably lead to a reduction in food production generally, and this will then have a further negative impact,” he stated.
“The ability and requirement for the UK generally to be more self-sufficient in food and less reliant on imports is a more obvious point. The more we can help our producers at home, the more insulated we can become to the wider and damaging shocks of global markets.
“However this current period of great upheaval should be clearly reinforcing this matter and that is why I am lobbying the Department of Agriculture [Environment and Rural Affairs] to ensure that all and every tool is used to help increase our security of supply and assist our local producers.”
Support package
Meanwhile, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) is calling on the UK’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, to come forward with an urgent support package for the farming and food sectors.
Union president David Brown said: “Farming and food production must be made an urgent priority by the new PM for the sake of our UK consumers and farmers.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions recently, stressed just how fragile and crucial local food production is, and it must be protected going forward at all costs.
“Like many across the UK, our farmers are struggling with the current cost-of-living crisis – they need support to continue feeding the nation. Soaring energy and feed costs are unsustainable and it’s severely impacting farmers’ confidence around food production,” he added.
The UFU said that the government needs to intervene, to show support for food producers so they can continue to produce high-quality products farmed to some of the highest animal welfare and environmental standards.