Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has called for increased food production in Finland. The Prime Minister said increased production is the only remedy for the current crisis caused by rising food prices. He also wants Finland to develop its own comprehensive food strategy by the year 2020.
Vanhanen said the intensifying global food crisis has highlighted the importance of international agricultural production and food security.
"The world population is growing, but the amount of land used for agricultural production is decreasing," he said during an address at the Mäkilä tractor museum in Somero, south western Finland.
Vanhanen said it's time for a complete overhaul of the EU's decades-old agricultural policy, since agriculture will become more important in the future.
The premier said that other factors pushing up global food prices included growing prosperity in Asia, global warming and increased production of bio-fuels.