Page 12 - NPN1022book

World hungry for food security solution
A behind-the-scenes inspection of Sydney’s International Airport was hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Biosecurity and Compliance Group.
Inspection gives Aussie livestock sector
increased confidence in biosecurity
LEADERS from Aus- The inspection was a our response to the inbound passenger card
tralia’s livestock indus- tries have witnessed how travellers to and from countries such as Indonesia are ex- posed to more than 20 biosecurity touch points, enhancing the biosecurity wall pro- tecting Australia from exotic animal diseases, according to a press re- lease from Australia’s meat sector, including Meat and Livestock Australia.
collaboration between government and repre- sentatives from Meat and Livestock Aus- tralia, Australian Meat Industry Council, Wil- mot Cattle Co, Austral- ian Pork Limited and Australian Wool Inno- vation.
threat of FMD is appro- priate,” Minister Watt said.
checking, passenger profiling, roaming bio- security officers, X-ray inspections, detector dogs, manual inspec- tions and the unprec- edented level of screen- ing of incoming cargo and mail now in place.
The behind-the-scenes inspection of Sydney’s International Airport was hosted by the De- partment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Biosecurity and Com- pliance Group.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said it was a great opportunity for industry to see first- hand the strong meas- ures implemented by the government at the borders.
The video is intended for Australian livestock producers, the broader supply chain and the community to help con- vey the industry lead- ers’ confidence in the significant measures in place to protect Austral- ia from an exotic animal disease incursion.
Australia has some of the strictest biosecurity protocols in the world and industry has invest- ed hundreds of millions of dollars to develop lifetime traceability sys- tems, partly in response to the risk of an exotic disease incursion.
It featured a step-by- step review of the in- creased biosecurity measures in place from plane arrival through to baggage collection and exit.
“We have been work- ing hand in hand with industry to make sure
The group was pro- vided an overview of the large number of the biosecurity touch points including announce- ments and handouts to passengers before dis- embarking, sanitation foot mats, passport and
Australia is complete- ly free from diseases such as FMD, LSD and ASF.
The Australian Gov- ernment has implement- ed a range of further ur- gent measures to reduce the risk of exotic dis- eases such as foot and mouth disease, lumpy skin disease and Afri- can swine fever from entering Australia.
One of the outcomes of the tour will be a video showing the enhanced biosecurity measures.
While the Australian Government carries the responsibility for pro- tecting Australia from biosecurity risks, the industry is doing eve- rything it can to support their work.
“Australia remains FMD-free, and we will do everything we can to keep it that way.”
THE complex issue of global food security can only be solved if all na- tions work together, a University of NSW ex- pert has said.
effects, if not already. “Ukraine is a huge pro- ducer of wheat and sun-
tions in the world.
Only 11 percent of our
Food security may have come more into the spot- light recently in the wake of issues related to COV- ID-19, rising inflation, ex- treme weather events and regionalised conflicts, however it has been on the agenda of the United Nations for decades.
still source their wheat from local suppliers, the price they pay is still heavily influenced by the global market.
While we may see short price surges in food from time to time, these dis- ruptions are usually only temporary.
As defined by the United Nation’s Committee on World Food Security, food security is achieved when all people at all times have physical, social and eco- nomic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their food pref- erences and dietary needs.
“Australia’s food land- scape is in relatively good shape,” he said.
Sadly, even in 2022 these standards have not been met.
“Sometimes geopolitical issues can quickly esca- late, showing a downside to being more connected.” Don’t let food go to waste
“While we don’t have an imminent food secu- rity problem, our overall economy is still heavily reliant on exports.”
UNSW School of Chem- ical Engineering food se- curity expert Professor Johannes le Coutre said, for the world to achieve food security, there needs to be a balance between the health of the popula- tion, the economy and the environment.
Supply chain issues are one problem but how of- ten do we see perfectly good meals go into the bin when only half-finished?
In 2020-21, Australia’s agricultural sector was worth approximately $71 billion, according to the latest figures by the Aus- tralian Bureau of Statis- tics.
“The cornerstone of food security is that eve- ry person has access to enough safe and nutritious food,” Prof le Coutre said.
A round 30 percent of the world’s food produc- tion goes to waste – that’s 1.3 billion tonnes of food, costing the global econ- omy approximately $940 billion every year.
With almost 70 per- cent of our commodities shipped overseas, this leaves Australia vulner- able to global supply chain disruptions or natural disasters that can impact crop seasons, Prof le Cou- tre said.
“However, global issues such as climate change, geopolitical conflict and pandemics have reversed years of progress in eradi- cating this pressing issue.
There is a belief that solving the problem of food waste could put an end to world hunger, how- ever Prof le Coutre said that was not entirely true.
“We’ve already seen how conflict in countries halfway across the world can impact food prices lo- cally.”
“We need to take action now if we want to tackle the emerging food crisis we are in.”
“Food is wasted at every level – by the agricultural producer, retailer, institu- tions and consumers,” he said.
“So, it’s important that we shift our focus on fur- ther developing the do- mestic food manufactur- ing and processing market as well,” he said.
Globalisation
Health is wealth
Globalisation has made the world more connected than ever, bringing to- gether interdependence of cultures and economies.
“Sure, if we reduce food wastage, there may be enough food in the world to feed everyone but that doesn’t mean every person has the purchasing power to buy that food.
For many years, the belief was that supply- ing people with enough calories would mean they lived longer but modern health economics tells a different story, according to Prof le Coutre.
flower oil,” he said. While businesses can
food is imported, and this is mostly driven by diverse tastes and preferences.
“Food shortages trig- gered by the war have affected food prices eve- rywhere else and we will start to see prices for these goods slowly creep up as the supply has been tight- ened.
Prof le Coutre believes Australia is in a much bet- ter position compared to the rest of the world.
“Many African coun- tries such as Somalia and Egypt but also Turkey and Bangladesh are big importers of Ukrainian wheat, so the instability of the war will affect the supply in these importing nations.
“We have extremely pre- mium livestock and the quality of our fruits and vegetables reflects our strong agriculture indus- try.
The war in Ukraine has shown not only how con- flict in one country can have a ripple effect across the world but has also exposed how vulnerable global supply chains can be.
“What we need to do is also create wealth.
“At the turn of the cen- tury, we started noticing a plethora of health is- sues – such as diabetes and obesity – starting to become more common in the community,” he said.
Both Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s big- gest producers of agricul- tural commodities.
“If we have food and wealth availability, only then will we have a re- al chance at solving the global food security prob- lem.”
“And then people started realising that what they ate had a huge impact on their health.
Long known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’, Ukraine’s share in global wheat exports is about 10 percent.
Australia isn’t called the ‘the lucky country’ for nothing.
“If we provide people with inadequate food, it’s only going to create more health issues for them.
But export volumes have decreased by about 50 percent since the war started.
An analysis by the De- partment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry concluded that Australia does not have a food secu- rity issue.
“People need access to high quality healthy food and at affordable prices.
Lucky country
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Australia’s premium livestock and quality of fruits and vegetables reflects our strong agriculture industry. Photo: Brad Halcrow www.poultrynews.com.au
Prof le Coutre said the Ukraine conflict has put pressure on global wheat prices and Australian con- sumers will soon feel the
In fact, Australia pro- duces substantially more food than it consumes and is considered one of the most food secure na-
“With rising food costs and global food shortages, it harder for people from