United Kingdom
May 27, 2009
The UK’s biggest funder of
agri-food research, the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
has launched a consultation on future research to tackle the
growing but preventable food security crisis.
With an inexorably growing population, global harvests
threatened by climate change, the very real threat of exotic and
endemic animal disease and with a global economic downturn
disrupting the flow of trade, the world faces a growing food
security crisis. Research will play a vital role in finding
solutions to this challenge and preventing the crisis.
The consultation, on behalf of the UK Research Councils, is
seeking views on research relating to the production, supply and
consumption of food both for UK needs and more widely in an
international context of global food security. The Research
Councils have identified topics as potential priorities for
future research and the barriers preventing delivery and we are
seeking stakeholder views on these.
Responses to the consultation will shape a food security
research road map. This will set out the research across a wide
range of disciplines that will be needed to address the
challenges of ensuring future food security, including both
long-term research and work with more immediate impact.
Professor Janet Allen, BBSRC Director of Research, said: “We
need to increase global food supply by 50% by 2030. This
consultation is the opportunity for all interested organisations
and individuals to comment on the future research we need to
deliver this and avoid a growing food security crisis. We are
looking for responses to questions that include research targets
in food production and supply, ways to ensure knowledge transfer
into practical application and public policy and providing the
skills and training we need.”
The consultation is open now and will close on 17 July 2009.
Further information and the full consultation document is
available at:
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/consultations.
The UK Research Councils support research and training in a
wide range of disciplines that relate to food security,
including biological, environmental, nutritional, economic and
social sciences.
Leading scientists, policy makers, funders, farmers, food
manufacturers and retailers met at a workshop earlier this year.
They identified challenges to delivering sustainable food
security and the science we need to meet them. The consultation
has been developed following this meeting.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC) is the UK funding agency for research in the life
sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around
£450M in a wide range of research that makes a significant
contribution to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports
a number of important industrial stakeholders including the
agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical
sectors. BBSRC carries out its mission by funding
internationally competitive research, providing training in the
biosciences, fostering opportunities for knowledge transfer and
innovation and promoting interaction with the public and other
stakeholders on issues of scientific interest in universities,
centres and institutes.
The Babraham Institute, Institute for Animal Health, Institute
of Food Research, John Innes Centre and Rothamsted Research are
Institutes of BBSRC. The Institutes conduct long-term,
mission-oriented research using specialist facilities. They have
strong interactions with industry, Government departments and
other end-users of their research. |
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