‘Farmers and the wider food supply chain have done a remarkable job of keeping food on supermarket shelves during the Coronavirus pandemic’. That was the view of Professor Christopher Elliott, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, when he spoke at the NFU Cymru Monmouthshire County Conference.
He told the audience that the global food supply chain is extremely complex and responsible for feeding 7.6 billion people – a number expected to rise to between nine and 10 billion by 2050. He said that while feeding such a large number of people represents a considerable challenge, he belies that by following the notion of ‘food integrity’ – producing safe, nutritious and authentic food in a sustainable and ethical way that protects and respects the environment – we can effectively feed the growing population and drive profitability.
Professor Elliott told members that despite the UK being the sixth largest economy in the world, it was underperforming in terms of the index of food secure countries, struggling to make into the top 20 countries. He stated that the UK currently imports 40% of its food, 10% more than a few decades ago. The speaker challenged the sector to get back to a 70:30 ratio weighted more heavily in favour of home-produced food, but warned that this would need significant buy-in from government.
Discussing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK food supply chain, Professor Elliott said: “When I look at the UK over the last 10 months, I am staggered that we have been able to maintain a really good food supply into the UK. Food supply was left in the hands of industry and it is a credit to farmers and all of the people who work across food supply chains to keep food on our supermarket shelves. It’s remarkable. There’s lots of countries who are struggling in terms of food supply.
“I think a lot of the problems around food supply are coming this year, though, because often the food that we produce this year is eaten next year. There is a lot of the food that was produced this last year that will now be caught up in massive logistical problems. There are also parts of the world, some of whom we import from, where they are a long way behind us in terms of getting the Covid-19 vaccine and that is likely to have a big impact on labour in different parts of the world at different times.”
Moving on to Brexit and the UK’s future as a trading nation, Professor Elliott suggested that the newly-formed Trade and Agriculture Commission would have an important role to play in reporting to parliament on the potential impact on agriculture of prospective UK trade deals. He said: “The only reason we have the Trade and Agriculture Commission in the UK is because of the lobbying to the NFU. It was incredible to see a million people – in the middle of the pandemic – signing the petition. Organisations like the NFU have to continue to help to defend our food standards.”
NFU Cymru Monmouthshire County Chairman Dave Edwards said: “I’d like to thank Professor Elliott for joining us for our county conference and for giving us such a detailed overview of the ongoing challenges effecting the global supply chain of which, of course, we all play a part. With the nation’s Covid-19 recovery still some way from completion, it is clear that farmers across Monmouthshire and the rest of Wales still have an important role to play and we are committed to keeping the nation fed through this current crisis and in the years to come.”
NFU Cymru would like to thank HSBC UK for sponsoring all 11 of this year’s virtual county conferences.