Whiteford Speaks Out In Support Of OXFAM Grow Campaign

Banff & Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford has given her backing to Oxfam Scotland’s ‘Grow’ Campaign.

The campaign is aimed at promoting sustainable food production, addressing inequalities which plague the food production system from farm to fork, and improving the protection of those in poverty from food price crises.

Speaking at an Oxfam meeting held at the SNP Conference, Eilidh Whiteford MP said:

(l to r) Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs;
Naile Salima, Programme Development Officer, Oxfam Malawi:
Judith Robertson, Head of Oxfam Scotland; & Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP

“I’m delighted to lend my backing to the Oxfam ‘Grow’ campaign.

“I’m particularly pleased to be joined at this meeting by the Scottish Government’s Culture and External Affairs Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, who has restated her support for the Scotland-Malawi Development Programme, which assists over 40 projects in Malawi.

“Today, in the 21st century, nearly one billion people worldwide don’t have enough to eat. Not because there isn’t enough food to go round –there is: the planet is more than capable of supporting all the people on it with sufficient food. Rather, it is the system of food production which is broken and needs to be fixed.

“In Scotland, Oxfam will be focussing on four major issues to help fix the broken food system. These are Climate Change, which affects crop yields as temperatures rise; Food Price Spikes, because when you spend 80% of your income on food as some poor families do, spikes in food prices are especially destructive; Land Grabs, which force poor farmers off the land; and Small-Scale Farming, because there is enormous potential in small-scale farming in developing countries.”