The Norwegian government has signed a deal to start stockpiling grain, as the NATO member seeks to prepare for the “unthinkable,” the country’s Agriculture Ministry has announced.
The agreement between the Agriculture Ministry and four private companies was announced on Tuesday, and cites the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and climate change as prompting the decision.
“The building up of a contingency stock of food grains is about being prepared for the unthinkable,” the Agriculture and Food Ministry said in a statement.
Under the deal, the Scandinavian country’s government seeks to store 30,000 tons starting next year, with the aim to build up the reserve to 82,500 tons by 2029, according to Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad.
The grain, which will belong to the Norwegian government, will be stored by the companies in facilities across the country “so that we then have enough grain for three months’ consumption by Norway’s population in a crisis situation,” Pollestad told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Oslo stored grain reserves in the 1950s, but closed the storage in 2003. In 2022, a commission monitoring the country’s emergency preparedness recommended resuming the practice.
Last year, the Scandinavian country announced plans to spend 63 million kroner ($6 million) annually on stockpiling grain again. Norway is home to the Global Seed Vault on the Arctic Archipelago of Spitsbergen, dubbed the “doomsday” vault. The facility was built to protect the world’s food supplies and houses some 1.2 million seed samples from around the world.