The Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey, reaffirms the UK’s commitment to improving global food security through sustainable agriculture at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Hyderabad, India. The meeting serves as a platform to discuss actions and solutions for addressing global food security challenges and building more resilient food systems.
Harnessing the Power of Nature for Global Food Security:
Coffey emphasizes the need for countries to come together and harness the power of nature to ensure food reaches people’s plates both now and in the future. Recognizing the importance of protecting and supporting nature, Coffey highlights it as an essential and cost-effective approach to implementing solutions on a large scale. The role of science, technology, and innovation is also acknowledged in addressing global food security challenges.
Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Resilient Food Systems:
The meeting focuses on the promotion of sustainable agriculture to lower the impacts on climate and the environment while increasing global food security. Discussions center around the adoption of sustainable farming practices that reduce deforestation caused by unsustainable agriculture. Additionally, the importance of building more resilient food supply chains and ensuring the resilience of agriculture and food systems to shocks is highlighted.
UK’s Ongoing Commitment to International Cooperation:
Coffey emphasizes the UK’s ongoing commitment to developing and scaling up sustainable agricultural practices at an international level. This commitment is demonstrated by the recent £3 million investment announced by the UK at the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate Summit in Washington. The investment aims to fund a consortium that will develop and scale up new and alternative fertilizers to enhance soil health and agricultural productivity.
Supporting Sustainable Farming Practices at Home:
The UK is actively supporting farmers in running sustainable, profitable, and productive farming businesses. Grants totaling over £168 million are made available to farmers to drive innovation, support food production, improve animal health and welfare, and protect the environment. The Sustainable Farming Incentive program is also being accelerated to promote sustainable practices further. Additionally, the UK awards up to £30 million to cutting-edge farming projects that boost food production and work towards achieving net-zero emissions. The Landscape Recovery initiative supports projects aimed at protecting and restoring thousands of acres of the English landscape.
Source: Gov[Dot]UK
