A new dedicated Food Security Unit has been set up to monitor the supply chain for any possible disruption.
The Short-Life Food Security and Supply Taskforce was set uo by The Scottish Government immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and made this one of its key recommendations.
The unit will progress the work begun by the taskforce. It will monitor food system resilience and will work with others to ensure that government and the industry can react quickly to any future shocks,
Speaking ahead of a parliamentary debate on Securing a Sustainable Food Supply for Scotland, Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said: “In the recent past we’ve seen several significant events impacting our food and drink sector, including Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and, crucially – the UK Government’s choice to pursue a hard Brexit, which took us out of the EU and the Single Market. On top of this there has been further disruption to supply chains resulting from climate volatility, something that we are likely to see more of in the future.
“I want to ensure we are able to anticipate and adapt to shocks as much as possible, while we develop policies to try to mitigate them and reduce their likelihood. While it is not possible to predict all impacts, our new dedicated Food Security Unit will enable better long-term insight into global supply chain performance – helping us to improve our responsiveness to potential crises.
“Our farmers and crofters are essential to Scotland’s food security and I am committed to supporting our nation’s producers, in the short term, by maintaining direct payments, and in the long term through our new Agriculture Bill and reform programme.”
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