This Welsh Labour Government has not only been slow to react to the mounting challenges that we face, but has been complacent on some of the problems caused, and, as a result, has fundamentally failed to put the people of Wales first. Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Now, while all of us sat here today have no difficulty in accessing these, the Food Standards Agency report that 9 per cent of people in Wales experience low food security, and a fifth of people now worry about running out of food. Shockingly, a quarter of 16 to 34-year-olds run out of access to food at some point every year.

Now, as we address the state of food security in Wales, it is vital that colleagues on the opposite bench recognise the alarming position of the Welsh Government and its refusal to regard food as a public good. A nation of huge resources, and regarded as the bread-basket of Europe, has led to the concept of food security being challenged, following the awful Russian invasion of Ukraine. With its decline in exports being felt around the world, now is the time for Wales to review and adapt while it does still have some chance.

Countries in north Africa and the middle east serve as a prime example of how quickly things can deteriorate. Egypt imports 85 per cent of its wheat from Russia, and Lebanon receives 66 per cent of its wheat from Ukraine—the regions now face a heightened level of food insecurity. And closer to home, even before the crisis in Ukraine, Wales has its own issues.

As highlighted by the RSPB in their food security during a nature and climate crisis report in 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization reported that an estimated 2.2 million people in the UK were severely food insecure, making the UK the country with the highest reported food insecurity in Europe. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated food insecurity, with loss of income and limited access to usual food sources.

With this, the Welsh Government must acknowledge that our farmers are now at the forefront of protecting and enhancing our food security, and they can also be at the heart of an environmental and food-producing revolution. In fact, a study from Bangor University found that Welsh sheep and beef farms using non-intensive methods have among the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of comparable systems globally.

In looking at food dependency, the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs has reported that the United Kingdom is 64 per cent self-sufficient in all foods, and 77 per cent self-sufficient in indigenous-type food, compared to Finland and the Republic of Ireland, which are the top two nations for food security in the world. They score 85.3 and 83.8 on the index scale respectively, with the United Kingdom on 78.5.

It is vital that the Welsh Government conduct an immediate review of food security in Wales. I ask the Minister: while reforestation in Wales is vital, why are you putting livelihoods and food security further at risk by setting a tree-planting target that could require the complete afforestation of 3,750 Welsh family farms?

Food production in rural Wales is under serious threat like never before. Some of this is because of this Welsh Government's policies on agriculture and climate change. This must stop and a just transition commission established to ensure that the burden of decarbonisation does not fall unequally on our rural communities, and that it doesn't have a negative impact on the historically thriving Welsh language and food production in rural Wales.

We need to increase production, and we need to make our delicious produce even more competitive on the global stage. I've said many times here before that it is unacceptable that the shelf life for Welsh lamb is around 36.5 days, whilst New Zealand has achieved up to 110 days for carbon dioxide gas-flushed lamb.