Estonian Agriculture, Food Board: Lack of specialists jeopardizing food security

TALLINN - A lack of land development specialists and veterinarians is a problem hindering the provision of many services which needs to be resolved in cooperation, according to the Estonian Agriculture and Food Board.

At a meeting of the Agriculture and Food Board's client advisory board on March 30, the agency's deputy director general Katrin Reili highlighted the shortage of land improvement specialists and veterinarians in the agency.

"It is particularly difficult to find land improvement specialists who handle both authorization procedures and oversight. There is also a lack of veterinarians assessing food safety in small and large meat industries. It is a broader problem as there is a severe shortage of land development specialists and veterinarians both in the public and private sector," Reili said in a press release.

She highlighted the need for cooperation between the agency and various organizations to ensure new generations of said specialists.

"We continue looking for solutions in cooperation with the representative organizations, Ministry of Rural Affairs, Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Tallinn University of Technology," Reili said.

The focus of the advisory board's meeting was on problems in land improvement and veterinary oversight in small slaughterhouses. Among other topics, the participation of Agriculture and Food Board's officials in EU working groups was discussed along with the development of Estonia's positions, recall of food products and biosafety in livestock production.

Formed in 2021, the advisory board consists of 20 major sectoral associations and societies and is led by Meeli Lindsaar, head of agricultural policy at the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce.