On Tuesday and Wednesday, October 1st and 2nd, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ģirts Krūmiņš, will participate in the annual conference of the “Peace Bread” project titled “Peace and Agriculture”. This year, the conference is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the “Iron Curtain”. The event will take place in the German cities of Seelitz and Berlin and will focus on political and civil aspects of peace and agriculture, with particular emphasis on the ongoing war in Ukraine and the threat of war across Europe.
Representatives from the agriculture ministries of the project’s participating countries will gather in Berlin, while representatives from non-governmental organizations will meet at the Seelitz.
In Berlin, conference participants will discuss the proposals of Germany's Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, for the future development of the “Peace Bread” project, which include:
- Improving the Common Agricultural Policy,
- The expansion of the European Union,
- The creation of resilient and sustainable agricultural food systems (as a key prerequisite).
These are necessary conditions for rural entrepreneurship in economically viable agriculture, which simultaneously protects the environment, climate, and biodiversity, ensuring good agricultural practices for future generations and providing perspectives for young people.
Meanwhile, in Seelitz, participants will explore ways to involve more youth from EU member states and rural youth organizations in the “Peace Bread” project and agricultural entrepreneurship. Latvia will be represented in Seelitz by Sandra Eimane, Chairman of the Board of the Young Farmers' Club, Linda Medne, Chairman of the Mazpulku Council, and Martins Cimermanis, Chairman of the Rural Advisory and Education Centre.
A special guest at the “Peace and Agriculture” conference will be Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Vitaliy Koval.
At the end of the conference, representatives of the ministries and non-governmental organizations will hold a joint session to discuss the sustainable development of agriculture and vital rural areas, considering their social, ecological, and economic conditions.
For more information about the conference and the project, visit the “Peace Bread” website.