The European Commission communiqué entitled “Safeguarding food security and reinforcing the resilience of food systems” was adopted on 23 March in the wake of Russia-Ukraine conflict. In a statement on the new Communication, IPIFF emphasized that the insect industry can have an important role in strengthening self-sufficiency in food and feed.
Delivering a speech on the issue at the European Commission, Janusz Wojciechowski, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said “the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown us the importance of ensuring food security at all times, within the EU and across the globe.”
“The strong price increase on cereal markets puts global food security at risk, affecting vulnerable people in food deficit countries. We must shield vulnerable countries, notably in Africa, the Middle-East, and in the European Neighbourhood region, from pressures on food availability and prices,” Wojciechowski added.
“Let me say this clearly: fundamentally, the transition to sustainable agriculture, as envisaged in the Green Deal and Farm to Fork, is our only path to food security. This is strongly recognised and reinforced in our Communication. We must also ensure that our food system is resilient to external shocks, like the one we are now experiencing. It sets the path to reducing our dependence on inputs like fertilisers, without undermining productivity,” he noted.
“This will require a greater use of knowledge-sharing and innovation in areas like precision farming, organic farming, nutrient management and agro-ecology, which must be facilitated through CAP Strategic Plans,” he concluded.
INSECT FRASS MAY OFFER CONCRETE SOLUTION
The International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), the Brussels-based business association representing the European insect sector, welcomed the Communication of the European Commission.
“In the context of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and its negative consequences on global agri-food markets, local insect-derived products and other new sources of nutrition can play a role in strengthening regional food and feed self-sufficiency,” IPIFF said in a statement.
“To this end, the European insect sector reiterates its call for concrete support measures for sectors such as insect farming under national initiatives, such as the national protein plans that already exist or are being developed at Member State level. In the medium-/long- run, we believe that supporting the upscaling of insect farming throughout the European Union will also facilitate the transition towards more circular, resource-efficient production systems – offering pragmatic and sustainable answers to several challenges of the agri-food sectors,” IPIFF underlined.
“IPIFF also values the call of the European Commission to ‘increasing the […] production of bio-based alternatives to close the nutrient cycle’. In particular, the wider use of insect frass on agricultural land may offer a concrete solution to farmers seeking alternatives to maintaining and improving soil fertility,” the statement added.
