Youth engagement in sustainable agricultural production will be “fundamental” to combat climate change and food insecurity, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Senator Pippa Hackett has said.
Minister Hackett concluded a programme of varied engagements in Rome centering around the World Food Forum 2023 today (Friday, October 20).
The DAFM funded 91 youth delegates from 46 developing countries to attend this year’s forum, including seven young Irish people from the Irish agri-food sector.
“I think their participation added hugely to the week. I spoke at an event featuring a panel discussion between our Irish youth delegation and their Kenyan counterparts.
“It’s clear that the next generation is engaged and wants to play a part in shaping food policy, both nationally and internationally,” Minister Hackett said.
World Food Forum
Minister Hackett accompanied President Michael D. Higgins this week at several multi-lateral events with the United Nations (UN) Rome-based agencies.
“Hunger, climate change and biodiversity loss are interlinked, are global in nature, and are of enormous consequence both for this generation and the next.
“The World Food Forum is a critically important event to discuss how we can transform food systems to address these challenges,” Minister Hackett said.
The minister attended meetings with the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
At a FAO Science and Innovation Forum event on the bioeconomy, she highlighted the publication of Ireland’s national Bioeconomy Action Plan for the period 2023-2025.
The bioeconomy has the potential to be a “real gamechanger”, Minister Hackett said, and could create new economic opportunities for farmers and new employment in rural areas.
“We will be in a position to offer consumers more sustainable, bio-based products instead of products made from fossil fuels.
“Mobilising the bioeconomy will mean re-using wastes and side streams in a circular, regenerative way, and will really help us to reduce emissions and restore biodiversity,” she said.
The minister also commemorated the links between Ireland and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, who sent money to the Irish people in 1847 to buy food and feed for livestock during the Great Famine.
Minister Hackett announced at the World Food Forum 2023, hosted by the FAO, that Ireland will join the UN FAO Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples.
She also discussed the position of Irish agri-food products in the Italian market and the opportunities for growing this trade, in particular of organics, with Bord Bia’s office in Italy.