Leth them do what they do best

Apr 29 2008 by Jonathan Evans, Western Mail

LET farmers produce food. That’s what my Conservative colleagues and I have called for in the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, last week.

As food security concerns grow amid rising prices, I believe the answer is to allow farmers to produce food free from market and government interference.

Consumers are feeling the squeeze as the price of their shopping basket continues to rise. A report by price comparison site moneysupermarket.com showed key staple items have shot up, with free-range eggs up by 50% and a loaf of bread by 20%.

The European Parliament debated the issue of food security last week and Conservatives argued farmers must finally be allowed to respond to the market.

Three years ago a tonne of wheat was worth 90, today it is worth close to 270. This rapid price rise is causing concern around the world with Argentina slapping huge export taxes on its agricultural production and politicians in Europe, including the French and German agriculture ministers, calling for a return to direct subsidies for production.

We have sleepwalked into this situation. Our farmers have been champing at the bit to produce food for the past 20 years, but they have been stifled by the bureaucracy of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Many have also been driven out of business because the prices paid for their produce have been too low. Farming unions have warned for years that our increasing dependence on imported food would lead to issues with food security.

What we need is to allow farmers to produce food. The market price now provides a huge incentive and if we reduce bureaucracy farmers will meet the challenge of producing more food.

Globally there is a huge potential to produce more food. Just look at Zimbabwe, which 10 years ago was producing food for itself and half of Southern Africa, yet now it can’t feed itself.

This is not down to drought, or climate change, or biofuels, this is down to the country being run by a mad dictator. Without good governance in the wider world, we will never fully realise our agricultural potential.

Jonathan Evans is Conservative MEP for Wales