‘Farm to Fork’ strategy objectives a priority for the Agriculture Ministry, says Kadis

Consumers should have the opportunity to choose healthy food, produced in an environmentally sound and socially responsible way, Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said on Tuesday.

Kadis added that the government supports the efforts of the farming community in this direction.

In his address at the opening event of the 3rd Lidl Wellness Camp, Kadis referred to the importance of ensuring food sufficiency and healthy nutrition for all.

Kadis stressed that consumers should have the opportunity to choose healthy, seasonal food, produced locally and contributing to the effort to reduce food waste and loss.

“Managing production and consumption, as well as reducing food waste, are major challenges for our planet and very important steps for the protection of the environment,” he said.

He also said that the objectives of the European Strategy “From Farm to Fork” are a priority for the Agriculture Ministry “to maintain the production of safe and healthy food, reducing, to the greatest extent possible, the inputs of synthetic agrochemicals, fertilizers and antibiotics in the food chain and the environment.”

Farmer-producers, he said, have a leading role in these food systems and are key actors in the chain of production, distribution and consumption of agri-food products.

“In Cyprus, our farmers and herders, despite the challenges they face, such as the luxury farming of agricultural land, the effects of climate change and, just recently, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, produce and safely provide the majority of the food we consume,” Kadis said.

He referred to the measures taken to support this effort and said that the government “is a firm ally and companion of the agricultural world, promoting measures and policies that contribute to its further progress and development.”

In addition, he said his ministry has drawn up a series of measures and plans aimed at normalising market conditions, ensuring a stable food supply in the food chain and supporting the incomes of workers and employees in the primary sector.