Wrongheaded
OPINION: Food security is a sore point in the UK, as a direct result of its National Food Strategy, and there’s a lesson in this for other food producing nations like NZ: government meddling in farming is a very bad idea!
Income growth, not population, will impact food consumption, says Thomas Hertel, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, Indiana.
He told the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) conference that population growth in poor countries will not lead to greater demand for food.
Instead income growth in countries with developing economies will drive demand. “Population won’t be the challenge; income growth is more important.”
He also stressed there was enough food but how it was distributed was the main issue. Preventing food loss will also be important. Hertel says per capita food loss in Europe and North America is 280-300kg/year: in Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia it is 120-170 kg/year.
“The total per capita production of edible parts of food for human consumption is, in Europe and North-America, about 900kg/year and, in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia, 460kg/year.
“Per capita food wasted by consumers in Europe and North-America is 95-115 kg/year, while this figure in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia is only 6-11 kg/year. “
However, it is difficult to model consumer behavior. Given that 30-40% of food loss occurs in developing countries, investigating relation between food loss and nutrition outcomes is also important.”– Sudesh Kissun
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…