Professor Gerry Boyle:

Some of the points the Chairman raises are very interesting, indeed profound in many respects. Certainly we can learn a huge amount from working with the countries we have been involved in. My colleagues would testify to this as well. It is not a one-way street by any means. If we approach the challenge of improving the livelihoods of smallholders and improving productivity with the attitude that we know best, we will not get anywhere. There are many practices from which we can learn. It reinforces the importance of certain fundamentals. For me, for example, it has reinforced the view that in Ireland, State investment in research and development has to have an impact on the ground. When I go to a country like Ethiopia or Eritrea, I can see the consequences of that not happening. What I learn from that is that we need to make sure we are not making similar mistakes. The consequences are very different.

We have a lot to learn. In regard to the sustainable development goals, there is one thing I have learned from my observations, particularly around the challenge of climate change, the related challenges associated with the scarcity of fossil fuels and the consequences for water resources. One thing that immediately affects a visitor to Ethiopia is that climate change is happening. It is visible. One is struck by that, and by the interaction between climate change and the land tenure system, which is a political determination. It is visibly evident. People are aware of what is happening to their environment. Often they are not equipped to deal with it and respond to it. They need support.

In Ireland, it is difficult to create the same awareness that it is a global challenge. Maybe it is not manifested to the same extent because of the nature of the Irish climate, which is highly volatile. That is probably one reason. I was struck by that when I visited Ethiopia, and equally when I visited northern Finland, where one sees the impact in a different way. We probably have not yet absorbed the significance and importance of the sustainable development goals, particularly where the profound impact of climate change is concerned. We will need to do so in a relatively short time. We need to adapt, and one can see those countries adapting in their own very challenging ways.

The other thing that immediately strikes a visitor to these countries, which I know the committee members have visited, is the sheer force of population pressure. I was struck by that in Ethiopia, in particular. One sees it on the highways, certainly around the large towns and cities. The motorists do not have precedence because there are so many people. They all have to be fed. One sees the constant human traffic. A committee member referred to women. Women seem to do most of the work, as far as I could see. They procure the firewood and fodder. They are constantly moving, day in, day out. One of the consequences of focusing in on productivity, better ways of managing animals and so on, will be to lessen the burden of work on women in particular.