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Minister Ms Sari Essayah has been the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland since June 2023. In her office she is assisted by State Secretary and Special Advisors. Information about the minister Ministers secretary Ms Tiina Sahlberg-Kell...

Organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry The political staff of the Ministry works in close cooperation with the civil servants with the aim to ensure that the actions and decisions of the Ministry make the best possible contributi...

Island Committee The Island Committee is a permanent statutory advisory committee appointed by the Government. Its activities are based on the Island Act (494/1981) and the Decree on the Island Committee (387/1987, 1316/1993, 752/2019). The commit...

When there is not enough water for all

The Renewable Nature of Finland – A World of Opportunity 21.3.2019 11.45 Blog The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has renewed its administrative branch strategy. The main ingredients are still the same, but they are now fresher and have been ...

Presidencies Each EU Member State holds the presidency of the Council for six months at a time. The country holding the presidency prepares Council meetings and preparatory meetings (meetings of the working parties and the Special Committee on Agr...

2.2.2026 | The 12th Session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPBES will begin in Manchester on 3 February. The session is to approve the Business & Biodiversity Report.

17.12.2025 | Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah Permanent Secretary Pekka Pesonen State Secretary Päivi Nerg Organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 1 January 2026 Agriculture and Fisheries Industry Department Fisheries Industry...

25.1.2024 | Today, on 25 January 2024, the Government has appointed M.Sc. (agriculture and forestry) Pekka Pesonen to the post of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the period from 1 February 2024 to 31 January 2029. The term of the current Permanent Secretary Jaana Husu-Kallio ends on 31 January 2024.

10.10.2019 | Finland and the State of Maine on the North-East coast of the United States have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding on fostering exchange of information and cooperation in developing bioeconomy that is based on forests and the use of wood. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed today, on 10 October 2019, by the Prime Minister of Finland Antti Rinne and the Governor of Maine Janet Mills.

12.6.2025 | Nordic Council of Ministers for Fisheries, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Food and Forestry convened at its annual ministerial meeting in Kuopio on 11–12 June 2025. Among the topics discussed were security of supply and opportunities related to the bioeconomy, and the ministers also met young farmers. Ministers from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark as well as the autonomous regions of Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland attended the meeting. Iceland was represented by the State Secretary.

17.12.2025 | The organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will be reformed, with the new organisational structure taking effect in the beginning of 2026. The reform was based on the Ministry’s strategy, where the aim is that Finland will be a leading country in a sustainable bioeconomy by 2035.

Recycled fertilisers solve tough problems

7.10.2025 | Finland will host the annual seminar of NATO’s Food and Agriculture Planning Group (FAPG) in Helsinki on 7–8 October 2025. The seminar is primarily aimed at the Finnish members of the FAPG, and its focus is on hybrid threats and critical infrastructure protection.

4.9.2025 | For Forest + is a group that promotes the interests of the forested Member States in the EU. Now Italy and Latvia are also members, besides Austria, Finland, France, Slovenia and Sweden. The For Forest Group + held the first meeting in its new composition in Slovenia on 28–30 August 2025.

22.9.2022 | Today, on 22 September 2022, the Government appointed Master of Social Sciences Pasi Patrikainen as the Director General of the National Land Survey of Finland for the term 10 October 2022 to 9 October 2027. A total of 10 candidates applied for the post. The previous holder of the post Arvo Kokkonen will retire on 1 October 2022.

30.7.2021 | The UN Food Systems Summit will be held at the level of heads of state or government in connection with the UN General Assembly in September. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari represented Finland at the ministerial level Pre-Summit in Rome on 26–28 July.

14.12.2022 | Page 1 / 21 29 January 2021 General terms and instructions for research and development activities funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2021 Contents General information on terms of funding .............................................

4.3.2021 | On 4 March 2021 more than 100 people participated in a webinar to boost Finland’s preparations for the UN Food Systems Summit FSS in September 2021. The webinar was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In his address to the webinar David Nabarro, the leader of the global FSS Dialogues process, noted that Finland has taken an active lead in reforming the world’s food system to make it more sustainable and equitable.

28.5.2021 | Local Food – But of Course! Government Programme on Local Food and development objectives for the local food sector to 2020 Government Resolution 16 May 2013 2 SUMMARY ..................................................................................