NFU: Message to World Food Security Summit

Food security, biofuels and continued high oil prices will be discussed with Mr Temple reminding the FAO of the important role farmers have to play in maximising farm production and boosting rural development while remaining part of the solution to climate change.

Speaking before the conference, he said: "We have ignored agriculture for years and now we are being forced to face the issue due to disrupted supply caused by droughts and floods world wide. With agriculture coming back onto the agenda in many countries it is time to highlight the issues central to all farmers

"There needs to be a clear acknowledgement of the value of stepping up production and this needs to be backed by some serious investment in research and development - accompanied by a genuine attack on red tape, which is holding us back.

"We need to increase our fuel security. Europe, along with some of the most vulnerable countries in the world, is heavily reliant on fossil fuel imports. Finding alternatives to these through the utilisation of biomass will be of great importance. Countries in Asia and South America are already seeing their economies start to prosper as a result of biofuels and the alternatives market.

"These emerging markets for farmers, together with higher commodity prices, will allow previously unprofitable land to be bought back into production. This will increase the income of those rural poor who were previously unable to make a living off the land because they were forced to compete with subsidised EU and US crops previously being dumped on the market.

"Climate change is presenting us with new challenges and offers agriculture an important opportunity, both at home and abroad, with the push towards renewable replacements to fossil fuels.

"This move for alternative energy sources has not been without controversy but I would like to remind everyone that farmers have always produced crops for food, animal feed and energy. The modest targets set means we can meet these goals within our current agricultural capability. Biofuel production currently takes only one per cent of agricultural land so when it comes to talking about the global food crisis we need to put the spotlight on other supply factors such as the weather impacting on production and the fact that historic low prices have resulted in lower investment in agriculture and land being taken out of production."

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