Taking Irish experience and skills in the agri-food sector and applying them around the world is the role of Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI). It was set up by the Department of Agriculture (DAFM) to work with State agencies Enterprise Ireland, Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
The goal of SFSI is to bring Irish know-how, including the skills of our public bodies, to the challenges faced by agri-food globally, namely food security, food safety and the huge challenge of sustainability.
In doing this, we recognise that Ireland’s competitiveness internationally depends as much on knowledge and expertise as any natural advantage. SFSI exists not because it’s a nice thing to do, but because it can contribute to Ireland’s international success in the agri-food sector.
Sharing our knowledge, technologies and experiences can help us strengthen our hand when it comes to market access, identifying and opening new export opportunities for Irish food and agri-tech, building our reputation as well as being a revenue earner in its own right.
Applying climate-smart principles to any agri-food development intervention is key
We even have cases (Indonesia and Nigeria) where countries are beginning to say that if you want to continue to export food to us, you also have to invest in food production directly in our countries. 
David Butler of SFSI and colleagues meeting the Tanzanian permanent secretary for livestock and fisheries, September 2019.
We see knowledge transfer and collaborative projects to improve local capability as a way of protecting Ireland’s interests when this happens.
Complexity
When going around the world with this offer, we have seen the complexity of the problems facing countries and companies everywhere.
Whether it’s Asia, the Americas, Russia, the Middle East or multiple countries in the developing world, the issues usually boil down to similar desires:
To export and create more economic return from agriculture and food. To add more value domestically through investment and innovation. To modernise and reinvigorate farming and rural communities.To get more young people into farming. To improve nutrition, food safety and food security to feed growing global populations.To compete for new investment. Countries are seeking to achieve all of these goals while faced with the increasing impacts of climate change. When you think about it, that’s not much different to what Ireland wants. The starting point and baseline may vary, but the end goals are often similar.
DAFM inspection staff at Dublin Port with Serbian counterparts.
At the heart of Ireland’s message to our partners and clients is that a sustainable food systems approach is the starting point in addressing some or all of these needs. The term “food systems” is increasingly common.
In 2021, a major UN summit on food systems is likely to generate more attention on the topic and increase its prevalence.
It is useful as a framework to help us think about improving the sector.
A generally accepted explanation of a food system is that it is a set of inter-dependent systems which together create and deliver safe and adequate food. They include:
Natural elements – climate, air, genetics, ecosystems.Societal elements – legal framework, regulation and standards, norms and social licence to operate, infrastructure, institutions.Core functions of production, aggregation, processing, logistics and distribution. Influences on the operation of all of these include skills and people, governance, quality of inputs, access to finance, knowledge and information, and so on.
This approach perhaps makes it easier to think about the sustainability and resilience of the whole food system.
Teagasc staff at Oak Park present to a group from the Kenyan Plant Health Inspectorate in July 2019 as part of a potato capability building project.
Sustainability means having the capacity to achieve what we want from agriculture in the present, without damaging future capacity to achieve the same outcomes.
Resilience means the ability to do all this despite external shocks and increased pressures.
Each of the sub-systems need to be robust and resilient in the face of shocks, and sustainable in the true sense of that word – environmentally, economically and socially.
The different parts of the food system can be influenced and acted upon, and this is where public and private sectors can help to improve how they work.
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of why we need resilient food systems. Maintaining strong and functioning markets and building-in redundancy to prevent disruption in the value-chain is vital in overall management of crisis response in an inter-dependent world.
Countries and multilateral institutions need to think about this, but the private sector too. We see some good examples of international companies taking a long-term value chain approach in order to create their own stronger systems such as ensuring security of supply and increase local sourcing in the global south.
Unilever, Diageo, Nestlé and Cargill are often cited as multinationals that take this approach. Self-interest may be the key driver, but it presents an opportunity to achieve a beneficial win-win from new investment in the developing world.
The multilateral agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN have been promoting what’s called climate smart agriculture for some years. This is an integrated approach to farming which pursues three objectives:
Increasing agricultural productivity and incomes.Improving resilience to climate change. Reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible. Incorporating climate-smart principles to any agri-food development intervention is now essential.
At home, the role of co-operatives in the dairy sector is a good example of a sectoral food system in operation.
Technological change means we can consider new delivery methods such as smartphones and on-demand services, but the principles remain important
It is a combination of deep and long-term relationships between supplier and processor, guaranteed off-take, support given through advisory services, availability of high-quality inputs, social networks, and investment in regulatory compliance through voluntary standards and demonstration projects to show good practice.
Such relationships are a lever to promote improved environmental efficiency and productivity, for instance through the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS).
Other examples from the history of Irish agricultural development are also relevant, such as the creation of co-op marts, which helped to balance the power dynamic between buyers and sellers and built up considerable goodwill and farmer confidence.
Similarly, the provision of better market information and prices (remember Mart and Market on RTÉ?) was an important service to producers. Whether part of a grand plan or not, these improved the functioning of Irish agriculture, and we can extract valuable lessons that still have relevance in many parts of the world.
Technological change means we can consider new delivery methods such as smartphones and on-demand services, but the principles remain important.
Global reach
SFSI has sought to bring this thinking into projects around the world. For example, in Kenya, SFSI brought together partners including Teagasc, its Kenyan counterpart KALRO and an Irish NGO to undertake a project on climate smart innovations in dairying.
In that case, Irish expertise is being accessed on dairy genetics, breeding policy and farm systems to help create a productive and robust dairy cow which is bred for Kenyan conditions and can deliver profitable results within a forage-based farm system.
A livestock research station in the Tanga region of Tanzania, 2019.
The objective is to help Kenya improve the productivity of its dairy herd, not just in terms of yield but also in fertility and health status.
Important sustainability aspects will be around improved fodder production and conservation, reducing reliance on imported and expensive concentrate feed, allied to better innovation management and knowledge exchange.
In sectors such as dairying in Africa, the role of women is very important and specific interventions tailored to giving women access to training, advisory services and finance are often needed.
In Saudi Arabia, we worked with an Irish partner firm, IDI, in the dates sector. Dates are a culturally significant and cherished food throughout the Middle East, but one that suffers from high levels of pre- and post-harvest losses, seasonality and missed opportunities to add more value.
Integrated pest control, better handling practices and investment in the processing sector are all part of the mix in making that sector more sustainable and profitable.
Many countries are investing in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and capability in order to improve their trade access to regional or global markets
In parts of Russia, SFSI has been laying the groundwork for the application of Irish skills in the cattle breeding sector. Irish know-how in creating large-scale genomic programmes is at the leading edge globally, a fact not unnoticed by Russian counterparts who want to use DNA-based selection to improve the genetic merit of their herds also.
This is a case of a country with many sophisticated investors and operators, but which suffered from skills and capital flight post the breakup of the Soviet Union. As a result, its agri-food sector is still catching up. The key approach of improving genetic merit to generate environmental and efficiency gains – a win-win – is of similar interest there as it is here.
Food safety
Food safety is another area of strong interest globally – growing from an acceptance of the need to improve consumer health protection, but also because of its role in global trade. Many countries are investing in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and capability in order to improve their trade access to regional or global markets. In this context, food safety is a key component of a sustainable food system.
SFSI has worked on food safety and SPS projects with its stakeholders in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and DAFM in countries such as Albania, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.
There are many other aspects of Irish thinking in the agri-food sustainability space that we would also like to internationalise.
We take for granted the integrated nature of our sector in Ireland, and the ease with which government, state agencies, private sector and farmers can interact.
In other parts of the world this is often much more difficult. The multi-stakeholder and industry-led planning process for the sector, the current iteration being FoodWise2025, generates strong interest from our international counterparts.
Secondly, the environmental services opportunity needs to be figured out if many aspects of what’s needed globally are to be achieved.
Pricing and generating financing to pay for environmental services such as carbon sinks and biodiversity protection potentially offers a huge incentive towards sustainable agri-food systems. It can work in many different contexts globally, from rainforest protection to the rehabilitation of degraded soils and the prevention of land conflict in Africa.
As a final point, innovation can play a huge role in strengthening food systems and achieving greater resilience and sustainability.
The kind of thinking being applied in Ireland in the research programmes of technology centres such as VistaMilk, Food for Health Ireland, Meat Technology Ireland, Dairy Processing Technology Centre and in leading Irish agri-food and feed companies has relevance way beyond Ireland. There’s much to be done.
Taking Irish experience and skills in the agri-food sector and applying them around the world is the role of Sustainable Food Systems Ireland (SFSI). It was set up by the Department of Agriculture (DAFM) to work with State agencies Enterprise Ireland, Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
The goal of SFSI is to bring Irish know-how, including the skills of our public bodies, to the challenges faced by agri-food globally, namely food security, food safety and the huge challenge of sustainability.
In doing this, we recognise that Ireland’s competitiveness internationally depends as much on knowledge and expertise as any natural advantage. SFSI exists not because it’s a nice thing to do, but because it can contribute to Ireland’s international success in the agri-food sector.
Sharing our knowledge, technologies and experiences can help us strengthen our hand when it comes to market access, identifying and opening new export opportunities for Irish food and agri-tech, building our reputation as well as being a revenue earner in its own right.
Applying climate-smart principles to any agri-food development intervention is key
We even have cases (Indonesia and Nigeria) where countries are beginning to say that if you want to continue to export food to us, you also have to invest in food production directly in our countries.
David Butler of SFSI and colleagues meeting the Tanzanian permanent secretary for livestock and fisheries, September 2019.
We see knowledge transfer and collaborative projects to improve local capability as a way of protecting Ireland’s interests when this happens.
Complexity
When going around the world with this offer, we have seen the complexity of the problems facing countries and companies everywhere.
Whether it’s Asia, the Americas, Russia, the Middle East or multiple countries in the developing world, the issues usually boil down to similar desires:
To export and create more economic return from agriculture and food. To add more value domestically through investment and innovation. To modernise and reinvigorate farming and rural communities.To get more young people into farming. To improve nutrition, food safety and food security to feed growing global populations.To compete for new investment. Countries are seeking to achieve all of these goals while faced with the increasing impacts of climate change. When you think about it, that’s not much different to what Ireland wants. The starting point and baseline may vary, but the end goals are often similar.
DAFM inspection staff at Dublin Port with Serbian counterparts.
At the heart of Ireland’s message to our partners and clients is that a sustainable food systems approach is the starting point in addressing some or all of these needs. The term “food systems” is increasingly common.
In 2021, a major UN summit on food systems is likely to generate more attention on the topic and increase its prevalence.
It is useful as a framework to help us think about improving the sector.
A generally accepted explanation of a food system is that it is a set of inter-dependent systems which together create and deliver safe and adequate food. They include:
Natural elements – climate, air, genetics, ecosystems.Societal elements – legal framework, regulation and standards, norms and social licence to operate, infrastructure, institutions.Core functions of production, aggregation, processing, logistics and distribution. Influences on the operation of all of these include skills and people, governance, quality of inputs, access to finance, knowledge and information, and so on.
This approach perhaps makes it easier to think about the sustainability and resilience of the whole food system.
Teagasc staff at Oak Park present to a group from the Kenyan Plant Health Inspectorate in July 2019 as part of a potato capability building project.
Sustainability means having the capacity to achieve what we want from agriculture in the present, without damaging future capacity to achieve the same outcomes.
Resilience means the ability to do all this despite external shocks and increased pressures.
Each of the sub-systems need to be robust and resilient in the face of shocks, and sustainable in the true sense of that word – environmentally, economically and socially.
The different parts of the food system can be influenced and acted upon, and this is where public and private sectors can help to improve how they work.
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of why we need resilient food systems. Maintaining strong and functioning markets and building-in redundancy to prevent disruption in the value-chain is vital in overall management of crisis response in an inter-dependent world.
Countries and multilateral institutions need to think about this, but the private sector too. We see some good examples of international companies taking a long-term value chain approach in order to create their own stronger systems such as ensuring security of supply and increase local sourcing in the global south.
Unilever, Diageo, Nestlé and Cargill are often cited as multinationals that take this approach. Self-interest may be the key driver, but it presents an opportunity to achieve a beneficial win-win from new investment in the developing world.
The multilateral agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN have been promoting what’s called climate smart agriculture for some years. This is an integrated approach to farming which pursues three objectives:
Increasing agricultural productivity and incomes.Improving resilience to climate change. Reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible. Incorporating climate-smart principles to any agri-food development intervention is now essential.
At home, the role of co-operatives in the dairy sector is a good example of a sectoral food system in operation.
Technological change means we can consider new delivery methods such as smartphones and on-demand services, but the principles remain important
It is a combination of deep and long-term relationships between supplier and processor, guaranteed off-take, support given through advisory services, availability of high-quality inputs, social networks, and investment in regulatory compliance through voluntary standards and demonstration projects to show good practice.
Such relationships are a lever to promote improved environmental efficiency and productivity, for instance through the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS).
Other examples from the history of Irish agricultural development are also relevant, such as the creation of co-op marts, which helped to balance the power dynamic between buyers and sellers and built up considerable goodwill and farmer confidence.
Similarly, the provision of better market information and prices (remember Mart and Market on RTÉ?) was an important service to producers. Whether part of a grand plan or not, these improved the functioning of Irish agriculture, and we can extract valuable lessons that still have relevance in many parts of the world.
Technological change means we can consider new delivery methods such as smartphones and on-demand services, but the principles remain important.
Global reach
SFSI has sought to bring this thinking into projects around the world. For example, in Kenya, SFSI brought together partners including Teagasc, its Kenyan counterpart KALRO and an Irish NGO to undertake a project on climate smart innovations in dairying.
In that case, Irish expertise is being accessed on dairy genetics, breeding policy and farm systems to help create a productive and robust dairy cow which is bred for Kenyan conditions and can deliver profitable results within a forage-based farm system.
A livestock research station in the Tanga region of Tanzania, 2019.
The objective is to help Kenya improve the productivity of its dairy herd, not just in terms of yield but also in fertility and health status.
Important sustainability aspects will be around improved fodder production and conservation, reducing reliance on imported and expensive concentrate feed, allied to better innovation management and knowledge exchange.
In sectors such as dairying in Africa, the role of women is very important and specific interventions tailored to giving women access to training, advisory services and finance are often needed.
In Saudi Arabia, we worked with an Irish partner firm, IDI, in the dates sector. Dates are a culturally significant and cherished food throughout the Middle East, but one that suffers from high levels of pre- and post-harvest losses, seasonality and missed opportunities to add more value.
Integrated pest control, better handling practices and investment in the processing sector are all part of the mix in making that sector more sustainable and profitable.
Many countries are investing in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and capability in order to improve their trade access to regional or global markets
In parts of Russia, SFSI has been laying the groundwork for the application of Irish skills in the cattle breeding sector. Irish know-how in creating large-scale genomic programmes is at the leading edge globally, a fact not unnoticed by Russian counterparts who want to use DNA-based selection to improve the genetic merit of their herds also.
This is a case of a country with many sophisticated investors and operators, but which suffered from skills and capital flight post the breakup of the Soviet Union. As a result, its agri-food sector is still catching up. The key approach of improving genetic merit to generate environmental and efficiency gains – a win-win – is of similar interest there as it is here.
Food safety
Food safety is another area of strong interest globally – growing from an acceptance of the need to improve consumer health protection, but also because of its role in global trade. Many countries are investing in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and capability in order to improve their trade access to regional or global markets. In this context, food safety is a key component of a sustainable food system.
SFSI has worked on food safety and SPS projects with its stakeholders in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and DAFM in countries such as Albania, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.
There are many other aspects of Irish thinking in the agri-food sustainability space that we would also like to internationalise.
We take for granted the integrated nature of our sector in Ireland, and the ease with which government, state agencies, private sector and farmers can interact.
In other parts of the world this is often much more difficult. The multi-stakeholder and industry-led planning process for the sector, the current iteration being FoodWise2025, generates strong interest from our international counterparts.
Secondly, the environmental services opportunity needs to be figured out if many aspects of what’s needed globally are to be achieved.
Pricing and generating financing to pay for environmental services such as carbon sinks and biodiversity protection potentially offers a huge incentive towards sustainable agri-food systems. It can work in many different contexts globally, from rainforest protection to the rehabilitation of degraded soils and the prevention of land conflict in Africa.
As a final point, innovation can play a huge role in strengthening food systems and achieving greater resilience and sustainability.
The kind of thinking being applied in Ireland in the research programmes of technology centres such as VistaMilk, Food for Health Ireland, Meat Technology Ireland, Dairy Processing Technology Centre and in leading Irish agri-food and feed companies has relevance way beyond Ireland. There’s much to be done.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: