{"id":17585,"date":"2021-11-16T17:46:32","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T17:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=17585"},"modified":"2022-02-25T23:08:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T23:08:45","slug":"does-northern-ireland-produce-enough-to-feed-10-million-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/economy\/does-northern-ireland-produce-enough-to-feed-10-million-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Northern Ireland produce enough to feed 10 million people?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Northern Ireland agricultural sector produces enough protein<\/i> to meet the needs of 10m adults. However, production is only sufficient to meet the energy requirements<\/i> of 4.7m adults.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On 15 January 2021, in response to Minister\u2019s Poots claim that the food supply chain to schools and hospitals could soon be in jeopardy, Mr Bell stated<\/a>: \u201cFood and drink is Northern Ireland\u2019s largest industry and we supply food for 10m people, 8m of which are mostly in [Great Britain].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Bell from the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) made a similar remark, in his testimony<\/a> to the EU Environment Subcommittee at the House of Commons on 24 June 2020: \u201c\u2026 Northern Ireland feeds a fair amount of Great Britain (output is the equivalent of 10 million meals)\u201d and \u201c\u2026 Northern Ireland feeds the equivalent of 10m people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement on the security of pandemic food supply lines back on 6 May 2020, Northern Ireland\u2019s Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Edwin Poots MLA, said<\/a>: \u201cThere is more than enough food for us all, given that Northern Ireland produces enough to feed 10 million people across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are 10m fed by Northern Ireland?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative from NIFDA responded to our query of how the figure of 10 million people fed by Northern Ireland food and agricultural output was calculated. The association explained how it used figures from the DAERA publication<\/a>, Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Processing Report 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the NIFDA calculation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n