Politicians who ignore the central role Welsh family farms play in the community will threaten the livelihoods of thousands of people living and working in rural areas, Farmers’ Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan warned today.
Launching the union’s 2010 General Election manifesto "Farming for all our Futures", Mr Vaughan said the family farm was a key entity which had previously been overlooked and undervalued by many of our political leaders.
"Whatever the political issue, whether it is climate change, animal health and welfare, the negotiation of global trade agreements, or any of the other agriculturally-related topics that affect the electorate, the family farm has a central role to play, and those politicians who ignore this do so at our peril," he said.
Meanwhile, as UK politicians battle over the 6 May election, discussions regarding the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are the focus of talks at a European level and the outcome of these may be as influential over the long term welfare of UK citizens as the forthcoming election.
"In 2007 and 2008 countries around the globe suffered conflict and social unrest due to food shortages. In some developed countries major retailers even rationed certain foodstuffs and, in July 2008, a discussion paper issued by DEFRA concluded that ’the current global food security situation is a cause for deep concern’, listing high energy prices, poor harvests, rising demand, biofuels and food export bans in some countries as main factors.
"With the world population expected to rise to between nine and 10 billion by 2050, and predicted reductions in global agricultural productivity per hectare, there is clearly a need for appropriate action that balances food production against environmental considerations, and mitigating climate change without compromising food security is one of the most significant long term challenges facing mankind.
"There can be little doubt that joined up policies between Governments are needed to address these issues and the CAP, by design, provides just such a framework, allowing Europe to react to the imminent challenges that growing populations, global warming, rising sea levels, and peak oil represent in terms of food security."
Mr Vaughan accepted devolution had reduced the number of Welsh agricultural issues over which MPs have a direct influence, but said there remain a significant number of overarching policies of significant concern for Welsh rural communities, and the FUW’s concerns and aspirations regarding the most significant of these are highlighted in the union’s manifesto.
"Many of these topics will be the subject of detailed consideration during the next Parliament, and the decisions taken by Westminster that follow will have vital implications for both the agricultural industry and all UK citizens over the coming years.
"The FUW is not affiliated to any political party and therefore has a duty to work with both the Government of the day and the opposition parties, irrespective of their political persuasions.
"For the period of the next Parliament and beyond the FUW is therefore committed to lobbying all those in Westminster to ensure that agriculture and family farms receive the attention and respect that they warrant - for the sake of all our futures."
NOTE TO EDITORS: The full text of the FUW’s Manifesto 2010 is available on the union’s website www.fuw.org.uk. A caption for the attached picture: From left, FUW policy director Nick Fenwick, deputy policy director Rhian Nowell-Phillips, president Gareth Vaughan, DEFRA minister Hilary Benn and deputy president Emyr Jones during a recent meeting at Westminster.
