The Ministry of Rural Affairs will allocate an additional 10 million euros to the state budget to ensure food security and maintain the competitiveness of agriculture in order to ensure the sustainability of the food industry in both normal and crisis situations, Minister Urmas Kruuse Urmas Kruuse is an Estonian politician. explained to the Finance Committee of the Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. the necessity of the funds planned for food security in the 2023 budget.
"Just like in the fields of culture, education or national defense, we must be the biggest players in our country. This is also the case in food production, because the guarantors of any activity or ability are ultimately people who have to eat. Food is not something to be taken for granted in a crisis situation, and as we have received confirmation from the war in Ukraine, it forms an important part of the foundation of national defense," Minister Urmas Kruuse Urmas Kruuse is an Estonian politician. explained the importance of ensuring independent food security.
"With food production, we are currently able to cover our needs nicely - for example, our milk, grain and fish production exceed domestic consumption by a large margin. There is certainly room for improvement in food supply security and the functioning of supply chains, the production and availability of food as a primary commodity must continue even in a crisis situation. To this end, we will review the action plans for, for example, power outages, but we will also create real capabilities to reduce the impact of crisis situations through the supporting infrastructure that enables the continuation of production and supply," Minister Kruuse opened the food safety development activities.
In addition to food security, the Ministry of Rural Affairs will allocate an additional 0.4 million euros from the 2023 state budget to encourage the use of organic raw materials in educational institutions, in order to consciously contribute to teaching healthy and sustainable consumption to as young as possible. 1.7 million euros will be allocated to increase the capacity of research and development activities and thereby support the continuity of food production and the green transition.