George Freeman MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPG) has said that UK agricultural policy needs a “180-degree, tyre-screeching reset” to unlock the world leading science and innovation taking place at Britain’s research institutes and universities, and to help farmers and growers produce ‘more from less’ against a backdrop of increasing global uncertainty and volatility.
Mr Freeman’s comments came as he presented the Group’s ambitious 30:50:50 Innovation Agenda for UK Agriculture at Agri-TechE’s ‘Challenge Convention’ event at NIAB. This agenda seeks to increase the UK’s domestic food self-sufficiency from 60% to 75% over the next 25 years. This will mean increasing food production by 30% by 2050 while reducing farming’s environmental footprint by 50% per unit of output, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use and soil health.
In his speech he pointed out that the context for this mission, originally set out in Sir John Beddington’s Foresight report on Global Food Security almost 15 years ago, was now even more urgent with the impact of climate change, war in Ukraine and ongoing geopolitical instability.
“When we are rapidly accelerating into a war-time economy, needing to find extra billions to fund defence commitments and peace-keeping efforts in Ukraine, this is a massive reset moment, whether we wanted it or not,” he said. “So, I really welcome the fact that the Labour Government has made clear that food security is national security.” “But when it comes to agriculture, the rest of the world is moving quicker than us, and our slow response is all the more noticeable. UK wheat yields are continuing to flat-line, other countries’ agricultural productivity growth is outpacing ours, and our import reliance in key sectors such as veg, fruit and oils is at record highs. So, the indicators are going the wrong way, not the right way.”
He also pointed out that the United States has set out its own high-level Agricultural Innovation Agenda, with a goal to increase food production by 40% by 2050, while halving US agriculture’s environmental footprint. In this context he warned that the orthodoxy being pursued by Defra across successive Governments of de-intensifying agricultural production and rewilding productive farmland, is out of kilter with these global ambitions.
“This is absolute madness, and it is up to us, the political class, the elected politicians, to set a new direction that is fit for the world we live in, and that is capable of harnessing and exploiting the genius of UK farmers and our agri-innovation capabilities. This is not about criticising individual officials at Defra, but about recognising that the structure we have created, of very remote, top-down Whitehall policymaking, is increasingly disconnected from the reality on the ground,” said Mr Freeman. “If we really are serious about food security, about food affordability, about sustainability, and about establishing the UK as a hub of innovation and regulatory leadership, investment and global impact, all of which are key to the Government’s growth mission, then there is no sector more important than British agriculture.”
