Finland's strategic reserves model sets an example for Europe in crisis preparedness

• Environment Environment Environment
• Finland Finland Finland

Distributed across the country, Finland's reserves – along its 1,340 kilometers of border with Russia – cover nine months of grain consumption and five months of its oil and gas needs. The system has emerged as a potential model for the European Union.

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For 16 generations, the Wickholm family has lived in Mustio, a hamlet an hour west of Helsinki, Finland, passing down the seed-farming profession from father to son. Amid fields of grain, their red-walled barn houses dozens of sacks of seeds, marked with the Tilasiemen cooperative's logo. Some of these bags could be part of Finland's strategic reserves. Marcus Wickholm, the father, remains discreet – the information is confidential. He does, however, confirm that the cooperative manages a portion of the country's seed stocks on behalf of the State.

While the European Union has only just begun to consider stockpiling essential goods for times of crisis, Finland has taken a significant lead in ensuring its food security. Not only does the Nordic country of 5.6 million people produce more grain, eggs and pork than it consumes, achieving a food self-sufficiency rate of 80%, but it also has a higher rate than neighboring Sweden at 50%. Finland also maintains reserves of grain, seeds, fertilizer and crop-protection products, as well as stockpiles of oil and gas and medicines.

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