President Michael D. Higgins has been awarded with the ‘Agricola Medal’ of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin today (Friday, June 7).
President Higgins was presented with the medal by the director-general of the FAO, Dr. Qu Dongyu.
The medal bears the Latin name for farmer, and is presented to international figures who have undertaken “outstanding efforts” in advancing the cause of global food security, poverty alleviation and nutrition.
Speaking at the event, director-general Qu said: “It is the highest recognition by FAO to a head of state who has committed his life, his experience, his achievements, his influence and his political will and courage to better global agrifood systems”.
Agricola medal
On receiving the Agricola medal, the president said that the objective when the FAO was founded in 1945 was for “eliminating hunger and improving nutrition”.
“This objective remains as urgently demanding of action now as it did in that immediate post-war period,” President Higgins said.
The president spoke about new data from the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises’ (GRFC), which shows that 2024 is the fifth consecutive year of growing numbers facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
“Acute malnutrition in food crises continues to deteriorate, with over 36 million children under five years of age in 32 food-crisis countries affected, 10 million of whom were severely malnourished in need of urgent treatment,” the president said.
“Conflict is now the main driver of food insecurity, affecting 135 million people across 20 territories.
“Economic shocks were the second driver of food insecurity, affecting 75 million people, while climate change-related weather extremes accounted for food insecurity among a further 72 million people,” President Higgins said.
President Higgins
The president spoke about the war in Sudan causing hunger crisis, along with the current food crisis in Gaza.
“Surely responding to global hunger and the vindication of the right to food security is one that is of paramount importance, a project under which we can all unite and work together to achieve,” President Higgins said.
The president focused on Africa during his speech and spoke about how Ireland “must empower” young populations to build their own future.
“The Horn of Africa has endured devastating hunger three times in the three decades since that famine of 1992,” he continued.
“On each occasion, the world said “never again” when details of the famine were reported to the United Nations. Yet, each time, famine has returned,” President Higgins said.
He added that sustainable intensification has been advocated by many, but that this sometimes “overlooks” the need to employ local wisdom in food security models.
“A recalibration towards more holistic, inclusive, and sustainable approaches is necessary to ensure that the development of African agriculture benefits all stakeholders and preserves the continent’s rich biodiversity and agricultural heritage.
“The modes of production of food have huge and diverse cultural significance,” he added.
Environment
The president added that the rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns and increasing frequency of extreme weather events “pose significant threats” to agricultural productivity.
“For millions of smallholder farmers who depend on rain-fed agriculture for their sustenance, each unpredicted drought or flood can spell disaster, pushing them further into poverty and hunger,” the president said.
“We now need best ecological practices in agriculture, including agro-ecology, to become widespread.
“This is substantially different from mere adjustments to the productionist agronomy model, a colonially imposed food system which has exacerbated food insecurity by creating over-dependence on a small number of staples and an over-reliance on imported fertiliser, pesticide and seeds.
“Increases in food production must be sustainable, even as we continue to lose land to environmental degradation and climate change,” the president said.