Ms Noreen Gumbo:

I will deal with the role that Ireland can play in an increasing global population. I referred to the fact that we contend there is no basis for this argument. What is clear, and I think there was common ground in terms of the impact of climate change arising from agriculture in Ireland and in the countries in which we work is that we cannot get away from the fact that emissions are impacting on the recurrence of drought in places such as eastern Africa and the Sahel. The issue is not around supply but around access. We know that Ireland's exports are going to the more affluent societies and are not filling that hunger gap. The role we need to play is supporting, with the same empathy that we have for Irish farmers, smallholder farmers in east Africa and the Sahel to ensure they have a viable livelihood in the places that are being impacted most at this time. This can be done through research, technology or some of the roads we have travelled. I think support for those smallholder farmers is the way to go, rather than arguing that we can increase Irish agriculture with a view to filling that gap.