Schmidt: "Significant milestone on road towards sustainable, efficient animal husbandry"

Federal Minister Schmidt hands over final communiqué of the GFFA - Berlin World Food Conference

In adopting the communiqué of the 10th Berlin Agriculture Ministers Conference, the participant ministers from 69 states, as well as representatives of the European Commission and of international organisations such as the and , have com-mitted themselves to responsible and sustainable animal husbandry.

Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Christian Schmidt, states the following:
'Sustainable handling of animals in the production of food of animal origin is one of the central challenges of our time. Livestock husbandry will play an important role in the development of the world's population in a number of different ways. The global population's nutritional status, the economic prosperity of rural regions, and the impact on the climate and the environment are just some of the factors where interests need to be weighed and a fair and just balance struck. Another key issue is animal health and its mutual dependence with human health. This becomes particularly evident in the context of zoonoses and the issues surrounding resistance to antimicrobials. This is why we have resolved, in our final communiqué, to strengthen our efforts worldwide to combat the unnecessary use of antimicrobials as growth promoters in livestock husbandry. We also want to enhance resource conservation in the animal husbandry sector. Site-specific, regionally adapted solutions need to be found. Modern production techniques, new technologies and the transfer of know-how are the key to developing livestock husbandry into a sustainable and efficient sector.
Animal husbandry also plays a particularly important role in the context of reaching the sustainability goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. This particularly applies to the so-called 2, which aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the communiqué that we have adopted today, we have committed ourselves to this and are at the same time contrib-uting to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.'

Background:

The Berlin World Food Conference - the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) - is taking place this year for the tenth time. Its political climax is the Berlin Agriculture Ministers Conference - the world's largest meeting of agriculture ministers. At the invitation of the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, agriculture ministers from all over the globe discuss the key issues for the future of the global food and agricultural sector. The motto this year is: 'Shaping the future of livestock - sustainably, responsibly, efficiently.'

In their final communiqué, the agriculture ministers reaffirm their will to promote sustainable animal husbandry and commit themselves to responsible and efficient animal production. They identify four central challenges that must be reconciled with one another: food security; improving livelihoods; protection of resources, the climate and the environment; and improvement of animal health and welfare. In adopting the final communiqué, the participating agriculture ministers have undertaken to actively support implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Federal Minister Christian Schmidtbrought the Berlin Agriculture Ministers Conference to a close by handed over the final communiquéto Monique Eloit, the Director-General of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and to José Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)..

You will find the English version of the final communiqué at: www.bmel.de/GFFA-Kommunique_2018_EN
The German version will soon be available for you to download at www.bmel.de/GFFA-Kommunique_2018 and at www.gffa-berlin.de.