NATO’s Food and Agriculture Planning Group to meet in Helsinki to develop hybrid threat resilience in food and water sector
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.
More than 50 experts from NATO Allies and more than 20 Finnish participants are expected to attend the seminar. The seminar is an opportunity for experts to deepen international cooperation in developing resilience in the food and water sector. The seminar is a joint effort of the NATO Secretariat, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the National Emergency Supply Agency. Pekka Pesonen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Janne Känkänen, CEO of the National Emergency Supply Agency , will deliver the opening words of the seminar.
The strengthening of resilience and civil preparedness are part of NATO’s activities
NATO works actively to strengthen resilience and civil preparedness. Resilience is both a national responsibility and a collective commitment. The recognition of the importance of resilience and its new political weight are strongly reflected in NATO’s recent strategies and political declarations. Resilience is an essential basis for credible deterrence and defence, and is therefore vital to NATO’s core tasks. The principle of resilience is rooted in Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
The Resilience Committee (RC) focuses on resilience and civil preparedness. The RC reports directly to the North Atlantic Council and is responsible for the strategic and policy direction of resilience activities at NATO. It supports NATO member states in preparing for diverse threats, such as natural disasters, failures of infrastructure and hybrid and armed attacks. The work of the Resilience Committee is supported by six specialised planning groups, of which the FAPG focuses on resilience matters in the food and water sector.
The Committee’s work is based on the NATO 2030 agenda and the 2022 Strategic Concept.
According to Permanent Secretary Pesonen and CEO Känkänen, the seminar demonstrates Finland’s active role in international resilience work:
“The seminar in Helsinki highlights Finland’s active role in NATO’s resilience work and offers an important forum for developing the protection of critical infrastructure and the countering of hybrid threats. It is also an opportunity for Finland to present its own preparedness and security of supply in agriculture and the food and water sectors together with the private sector, the public sector and other operators,” Pesonen said.
“Promoting civil preparedness is one of the core duties of the National Emergency Supply Agency. The concrete cooperation within NATO’s Food and Agriculture Planning Group also help us to develop resilience and security of supply in Finland,” Känkänen said.
Inquiries:
Kirsi Heinonen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, [email protected], tel. +358 295 162 059
Miika Ilomäki, Chief Preparedness Specialist, National Emergency Supply Agency, [email protected], tel. +358 295 051 033