Food Security and Climate Change, with Aled Jones, NFU Cymru

Podcast Interview

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Planting trees can cause social harm. The simplest solutions are so often the best ones, but not always. Take climate change – we have put too much carbon into the atmosphere. The planet’s main mechanism to take carbon from the atmosphere is trees – so the solution to climate change is tree planting. Right?! Not necessarily, if it means families lose their homes and food is taken out of production. This podcast unpacks the complexities of food security and climate change – their interwoven dependancies and knock on affects to poverty.

Hear from Social Impact Pioneer Aled Jones. Aled is an eighth-generation farmer and the President of the National Farmers Union Cymru – the leading agricultural organisation that represents and champions all farmers and growers in Wales.

Listen to this podcast as Aled shares his wisdom – he carefully picks apart deeply complicated systemic challenges and their knock-on effects – covering topics ranging across land management, agriculture, food supply, nourishing people and climate change. He explains why tackling food waste should be a priority and how upweighting the importance of agriculture and food systems in our political decision making will ensure better long-term outcomes in food supply, nutrition, climate action and helping to lift people out of poverty.

Aled says: “We are now seeing food and energy being weaponised and I fear water can be a critical weapon and all will impact social stability.”

Aled is a champion for ordinary people to be at the decision-making table. He implores us all to step up and be heard. Aled explains why experience and wisdom from all walks of life must be brought together if we are to find solutions that will genuinely benefit all.

This is no black and white conversation of easy answers – but as Aled says: “There is a much, much, much larger picture…but we all have a responsibility.”

Links:

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021

World Health Organisation – Healthy Diet, 2020

NFU Cymru, Growing Together 2022

Oxfam, Tightening the net, 2021

NFU Cymru

World Farmers Association

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Regenerative farming and climate change, with Patrick Nyaga, Farm Africa

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