Country’s Climate Change Advisory Council calls for urgent review as dependence on imported produce deepens
Ireland is too reliant on fresh produce imports and could face significant shortages if climate change causes those crops to fail, says a new report.
According to an investigation by the Climate Change Advisory Council into agriculture and land use, the country’s dependence on imported fruit and vegetables leaves its food system vulnerable to crop failures elsewhere and supply chain disruption.
“Ireland’s food supply and distribution is highly dependent on imports and vulnerable to a range of external disruptions and risks, including conflicts and the impacts of extreme weather events on inputs and supply chains,” it stated.
“A decline in the number of domestic horticultural producers and local production increases the country’s vulnerability to external shocks and represents a missed opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland’s food supply and distribution, diversify against risks and deliver further environmental and health co-benefits from Ireland’s agri-food system.”
The report also called for a review of how domestic horticulture could strengthen food security.
“The Council recommends that [Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine] review the potential for Irish horticulture production to reduce the risk to food security, given Ireland’s high reliance on the importation of fruit and vegetables, in the context of climate change risks to the supply chain. The review should include existing horticulture support schemes and supports for primary horticulture producers.”
Supply shift
According to the report, Ireland now imports approximately 83 per cent of all the fruits and vegetables consumed in the country.
The majority of these, it said, are imported from the EU and the UK, and rely on long, complicated supply chains that are vulnerable to disruption as a result of climate change and conflict.
“Recent disruption to production and supply chains have occurred due to the extreme climate and weather events,” it noted. “For example, Freight Transport Ireland reported on the risk of supply chain disruption to Ireland at ports and production disruption in southern Europe.”
In the meantime, domestic food production had “declined markedly over recent years due to lower prices, retail pressures, high start-up costs, labour shortages and competition from other countries, while the sustainability and viability of the horticulture sector is increasingly being challenged by rising production costs.”
It is estimated that there are now fewer than 70 commercial vegetable growers left in Ireland, compared with over 600 in the 1990s, and more are expected to leave the industry while fewer join.
“Input costs have increased by over 70 per cent over the last six years, and recent volatility in energy, packaging, fertiliser and transport costs has further negatively impacted the sector,” the report added.
