Posted 18 January 2013
President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins highlights key issues on global fight against hunger
Opening a two-day EU Presidency Policy Symposium ‘Feeding the World in 2050’ at University College Dublin, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins said that chronic hunger is “one of the most serious challenges facing the global community”.
The President noted that “the principle source of hunger is the dire poverty exacerbated by gross inequalities that, scandalously, persist”. He stressed that “eradicating this poverty and its consequences” is the greatest moral and ethical challenge facing the global community today.
Referring to the controversies that have arisen from what has been referred to as land grabs, the President said that “some states and corporations are taking over agricultural land in developing countries to secure their own food security, or boost corporate speculative profits, at the expense of the developing world.
Pictured at the symposium: Dr Hugh Brady, President of UCD; Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland; and Prof Mike
Gibney, UCD Institute of Food and Health
“Despite the often, widespread popular opposition to such proposals, and the invariably weak governance environment in which the schemes are to be implemented, the support of the international community, if quietly voiced, and not unqualified, has encouraged the spread of the phenomenon. The grab for land and drive for profits are so obviously contributing to evictions, poverty and conflict.”
The President suggested that there should be a stronger and more collective move from the traditional and familiar humanitarian response of ‘Food dumping’, where international aid agencies bring much needed internationally-sourced food supplies to affected areas, towards more local sourcing of food produce so that indigenous producers and communities have an opportunity to benefit. He cited the example of the Purchase 4 Progress initiative which allows local farmers in developing countries to supply food to the World Food Programme.
With regard to the imposition of trade liberalisation that ignored its consequences in human terms, President Higgins said that poor countries are often forced to open their economies to rich countries in the name of liberalisation and, with their farmers and industries not in a position to compete, those countries often suffer job losses, poor health care and less education as a result. The President referred to the impact of climate change on world food production as well as the importance of providing women, who are the majority of smallholder farmers in developing countries, with the resources for decision-making and entrepreneurship.
Finally, the President stated that “At a global level, Ireland has given leadership on hunger and under-nutrition” and highlighted Ireland‘s consistent push for an integrated and comprehensive approach to addressing the multi-sectoral causes of under-nutrition. He encouraged the maintenance of this approach in our development aid policy.
| Listen to full speech by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins at UCD |
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The two-day symposium ‘Feeding the World in 2050’ which took place on the 15 – 16 Jan 2013 was hosted by the UCD Institute of Food and health, University College Dublin, in association with the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
It was attended by over 200 delegates from around the world. The aim was to stimulate policy makers to consider the issue of global food security and the role which Ireland can play in that area.
Mr Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Prof Mike Gibney, UCD Institute of Food and Health
The closing address of the symposium was given by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr Simon Coveney TD.
Feeding the World in 2050
About one billion citizens go to bed hungry each night with one child dying every 8 seconds directly from malnutrition. This failure to provide the basic right to food to one sixth of the world’s citizens is going to get worse.
Firstly, the global population will rise by 50% by the year 2050 with an additional 3 billion new mouths to feed. Most of this growth in global population will take place in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia where already we have the highest concentration of hunger. Moreover, by 2050, it is predicted that climate change will cause agricultural output to fall by as much as 25% in these regions which will be exacerbated by a serious shortage of water for agricultural output. Finally, with the growth of disposable income in countries such as China and India, the cost of basic commodities will rise dramatically, the effect of which has already started leading to reduced food security in many parts of the world. Allied to this, the rising demand for biofuels will divert arable land away from human food production.
Solutions to these problems require global action, and to that extent, global food security must be given a high policy priority by both the Irish government and the European Union. Ireland has a proud tradition in the provision of aid to developing countries and has shown clear leadership in this area, most recently through the report of its Hunger Task Force.
University College Dublin, uniquely among Irish universities, connects agriculture with the food chain right through to human nutrition and thus is in a strong position to take the lead in stimulating policy makers to consider the issue of global food security and the role which Ireland can play in that area.
Relevant links:
- UCD Institute of Food and Health
- UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science
- UCD School of Veterinary Medicine
- UCD School of Politics and International Relations
- UCD School of Biosystems Engineering
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
