Greeting of the Agriculture and Food Industry

Dear Readers,

Safeguarding food supplies for a rapidly growing world population is one of the key challenges for the future of mankind. At the same time, it is more important than ever for us to protect the environment and manage the finite resources of soil and water in a sustainable manner. As the world's biggest users of water and soil, the agricultural sector, the food industry and consumers bear a particular responsibility in this regard for ensuring that these two essential natural resources are used efficiently, sustainably and in a balanced manner.

The agricultural and food sectors in Germany and Europe have demonstrated on many occasions their efficiency in providing secure, high-quality and affordable food supplies. They are ready to continue to do their part in the future in order to cope with the challenges of ensuring global food security. This requires close cooperation between industry, politics and science in order to develop promising strategies and create an appropriate policy and business environment.

The fact that the 2012 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin has chosen "Food Security through Sustainable Growth –  Farming with Limited Resources" as its main subject shows that it is fully in line with the G20+ conference in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.

The subject of the International Business Panel Discussion of the 2012 GFFA has been closely coordinated with that of the the Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Summit and focuses on "Food Security and Green Economy: Challenges and Chances". Issues at the top of the global agenda will be discussed with high-level international representatives from industry and politics.

Through our commitment at the 2012 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin, we as the Business Leaders’ Initiative are together sending a clear message that the global challenges of securing the world's food supplies can only be overcome if they are tackled jointly by policy-makers, industry, science and the private sector.  To this end, we will intensify the international dialogue between all partners in order to develop successful solutions.

We very much look forward to being able to welcome you to Berlin in January 2012.