Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sandra Borch

01/07/2022

With the ongoing war in Ukraine as a backdrop and with experience from both pandemic and extreme weather, ministers from all the Nordic countries met in Tromsø, Norway, to discuss food supply and emergency preparedness in light of current conditions. Among the issues they discussed were how to counter the impacts of the war in Ukraine on food production in the Nordic countries, including rising prices for food, energy and fertilizers.

Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sandra Borch, who hosted the meeting in her capacity as the current President of the Nordic Council of Minister, also called on the Nordic ministers to join the international effort to preserve plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Norway makes an contribution to the Benefit Sharing Fund of the FAO International Plant Treaty, which includes approximately NOK 1 million this year. "I challenge the other Nordic countries to contribute to this important work that farmers in developing countries are in," she said in her opening remarks. 

The Nordic Council of Ministers (NMR) is the official co-operative body of the Nordic governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Also represented are the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.

The full article (in Norwegian) is available HERE.