Food System Resilience report

WQ.64/2025

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

BY DEPUTY R.S. KOVACS OF ST. SAVIOUR

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 17th FEBRUARY 2025 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 24th FEBRUARY 2025

Question

"Further to his response to Oral Question 20/2025 regarding the supply of food in the Island, will the Minister clarify who commissioned the Building Food System Resilience report and, in relation to the report's recommendations, will he –

1. advise which recommendations were accepted and with which priority and, if not all, which were rejected and why;
2. detail what work, if any, has started and the estimated timeframes for implementing each work stream;
3. state which recommendations will be delivered by the Department for the Economy directly, by Farm Jersey, or both; and
4. given the particular recommendation to increase the availability of allotments in each Parish, explain how he intends to achieve this?"

Answer

The report was commissioned jointly by the Department for the Economy and Farm Jersey.

1. The report was received in November 2024 and is being used to inform the ongoing update of the Economic Framework for the Rural Economy. This Framework was originally adopted in 2022 with the intention to update rural economy policies in a dynamic environment, which reflects fast moving changes in the sector and reduces the risk of government policies becoming outdated and redundant due to changing market factors. The framework update process is ongoing. At this stage it is too early to specify exactly which recommendations are to be accepted and which may be rejected, whilst the update process will, in itself, address issues of priority during the course of 2025. All recommendations will be taken seriously, as the resilience of our food supply is clearly of fundamental importance to the Island and must be taken into account with short, medium and long-term planning and ensure we deliver best value outcomes for the Island with the investment we are now making into the rural economy as a result of the States Assembly decision on additional funding taken in November 2023.
2. The report outlines 51 strategic recommendations (pages 79-92), of which

• 3 are complete;

• 21 are in progress; and

• 27 are not yet started.

Estimated timeframes for recommendations will be published when the rural framework update is published later in 2025. It is intended to update the framework in a manner which reflects all the recommendations made in this report.

3. 27 of the 51 strategic recommendations will be delivered directly by the Department for the Economy and Farm Jersey as they fall entirely within the remit of these organisations. All of the recommendations currently in progress fall within this category as they are the ones we have been able to action directly within our own resources.

4. The remainder of the recommendations (including the issue of allotments in each Parish) will require other departmental and organisations input. Success is these areas will only be achieved through the coordination of efforts of relevant agencies – the Department for the Economy will strive to assist in the coordination of efforts by convening relevant parties and enabling discussion, though fully recognise willing participation will be required from other parties.