Professor Thia Hennessy:

I thank the committee for the invitation. I am going to talk about the work we conducted through the Food Vision 2030 committee, which was chaired by Tom Arnold. Unfortunately, he cannot be with us today.

As part of our deliberations in the development of the Food Vision 2030 strategy, we considered the opportunities and challenges facing the horticultural sector. Given the significant climate change-related challenges facing our largely livestock-based agricultural sector in Ireland, we felt the expansion of the horticultural sector presented significant diversification opportunities, as well as opportunities to reduce the contribution of agriculture to climate change. The committee noted that carbon sequestration-enhancing biodiversity, including pollinators and horticultural systems, offers many synergies and co-benefits to environmental, economic and social sustainability. We felt that the expansion of the horticultural sector is justified in the context of our significant reliance on imported vegetables and fruit, with 83% of our national consumption imported. It is also justified in the context of growing consumer trends towards the increased consumption of fruit and vegetables in Ireland.

However, notwithstanding these opportunities, the Food Vision 2030 committee also acknowledged that the horticultural sector was facing many challenges, in terms of the scale required to support a viable business in the sector, the high start-up costs for new entrants, significant labour shortages, as well as the availability and cost of such labour in what is a labour-intensive sector, and the weak position of the producer in the supply chain in respect of the price being paid for the final product, with the vast majority being sold into the food retail sector.

Taking these challenges and opportunities together, the committee came up with a major recommendation to “Develop a strategy to set out the road map for the horticulture industry to 2030”. In response to this recommendation in our report, the national strategy for horticulture was published in May 2023. I am sure the members of the committee will be familiar with the strategy, but I will remind them of the eight primary actions: strengthen the position of the grower in the marketplace, in the context of the very important economic challenge in this regard; develop a charter between growers and retailers; establish a framework for a permanent non-EEA seasonal workers’ scheme to ensure a reliable supply of skilled seasonal workers; review horticulture course availability; invest in research and development for the industry; develop better data and information; integrate horticulture back into the broader agricultural knowledge and innovation system; and support innovation and diversification.

I will reflect on this national strategy, speaking as an agricultural economist with more than 25 years of experience conducting agricultural economic analysis, most of which has been in the beef and dairy sectors. When we look at the horticultural sector, we see that our ability to conduct a similar type of research is extremely constrained. This is mainly due to the limited information available on horticultural production in Ireland. For example, we do not have good data on the costs of production, the scale of production and the price paid for the output. It is very difficult, therefore, for us to establish a baseline economic situation to allow us to measure how the sector is performing. If we compare this to the situation with the dairy and beef sectors in Ireland, it will be seen that we have very good data in that regard.

There are very good reasons for this being the case. There are a small number of growers here, approximately 200, with 50 of those being significant. When we are dealing with such a small number of producers, the data will, of course, be sensitive. It is difficult to protect the anonymity of suppliers when collecting this type of information. It is essential, however, that there is investment in research to allow us to collect better information. We need to establish baseline indicators of the economic sustainability of the sector and the environmental footprint. I say this because I think this is a good story for the sector in terms of the ability to diversify some of our more carbon-intensive sectors towards agriculture. The recommendations concerned with investing in research and development and data collection are important. The lack of available information is probably linked to the relative underinvestment in the agricultural knowledge and innovation system, AKIS, in the horticultural sector. Looking at the investment undertaken by organisations such as Teagasc, it will be seen it is much more significant in the more traditional sectors of agriculture than it is in horticulture. This is where the major opportunities are. We could have a significant impact in this regard if we had better information.

Moving to the issue of food waste and loss, I know this is of particular interest to the committee. EU data shows that approximately one third of food production in the EU is not consumed because it is either lost in the production cycle or wasted at the consumption stage. It is estimated that if food waste could be eliminated we could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by between 8% and 10%. Reducing food waste, therefore, is a significant climate action. According to EU statistics, the majority of food waste is generated at home in households, so the education of consumers is greatly important. Ireland has the fifth highest level of food waste in the EU and is approximately 15% ahead of the EU average. The household level is again significant in this regard, generating more than 29% of food waste.

Research conducted by the EPA shows fruit and vegetables are the most commonly wasted food. There are particular opportunities for reducing food waste in this sector. A Teagasc study of consumer behaviour also found that fruit and vegetables tend to be the most commonly wasted foodstuff, again, most usually by households. Spoilage, expiration and overbuying are the most common reasons for food waste. The study recommends greater investment in awareness-building among consumers, more investment in food packaging to extend shelf life and freshness, and revised packaging formats by retailers to allow consumers to buy what they need.