Nordic agriculture ministers emphasise even stronger security of supply during their visit to Kuopio
News - Published 12.6.2025
Nordic Council of Ministers for Fisheries, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Food and Forestry convened at its annual ministerial meeting in Kuopio on 11–12 June 2025. Among the topics discussed were security of supply and opportunities related to the bioeconomy, and the ministers also met young farmers. Ministers from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark as well as the autonomous regions of Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland attended the meeting. Iceland was represented by the State Secretary.
The main theme of the two-day meeting was preparedness and resilience, including crisis resilience. The importance of security of supply was emphasised from the perspective of both the global political tensions and climate change adaptation. At the heart of the Karlstad Declaration adopted by the agriculture ministers of the Nordic Council of Ministers at last year’s summer meeting is Nordic cooperation to promote preparedness and resilience related to food supply and forestry. The discussion on security of supply continued in Kuopio. The proposal of the National Emergency Supply Agency on preparedness in Finland was well-received.
On Finland’s initiative, the meeting also discussed the strengths of Nordic meat production in the international sustainability comparison.
“It is important that we can show and highlight the strengths of our production, also taking into account the key importance of livestock production for our security of supply. We decided to launch a research project to examine the sustainability of meat production in the Nordic countries compared to production in the EU and globally,” Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah said.
In view of the upcoming climate meeting, the ministers also agreed on a joint statement to underline the important role of the bioeconomy.
“At the meeting we heard very clearly that solutions to climate challenges will be needed that are fair to producers. In general, we need to speak more about the solutions and means, not just about ambitious goals. The bioeconomy is one of the key solutions in responding to the climate challenge,” Essayah summarised the outcome of the meeting.
The meeting in Kuopio ended with an event to strengthen young farmers’ faith in the future. All Nordic countries consider continuity as an absolute necessity to ensure the future of food production.
“I consider it very important that we discuss with young people and create opportunities to enter the field. The food sector needs more young people to participate at all levels: primary production, industry and research. Young farmers also spoke about how important the vitality of the rural areas is,” Essayah said.
On the first day of the meeting, the ministers visited Maaninka to learn about the research infrastructure of the Natural Resources Institute Finland Luke. Among the studies presented by the researchers were those related to the cultivation of grasses. At Korkeakoski in Maaninka, the visitors heard about the work of Metsähallitus on the recreational use of forests and got to taste the thin fire-cooked pancakes of Ylä-Savo protected by the EU PGI quality scheme. The ministers also visited Valio’s production plant in Lapinlahti.
This year Finland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, together with Åland.
Inquiries:
Special adviser to the minister, Iina Mattila, tel. +358 50 473 6221
Press release from Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 12.6.2025