Oxford Farming Conference: Innovation vital to meet global food demand

Boosting farm output alone will fail to meet the needs of a global population expected to reach nine billion people by 2050, industry leaders have warned.

While massive increases in production are vital, innovative methods are needed to ramp up agricultural output while making the best use of finite resources without destroying the environment, delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference were told.

Called Opportunity Agriculture, the conference examined innovative ways farming can attract investment and embrace new thinking, using sustainable production methods to meet soaring global demand for food. The event was held at the Oxford Examination Rooms on 6-8 January.

Irish farm minister Simon Coveney (pictured) said a new generation of farmers understood much better than their parents the complexities of climate change and environment alongside the need to produce more food for a growing world population.

Food production levels must increase by 60-70% over the next four decades to feed a growing world population, said Mr Coveney. This was equivalent to one billion tonnes of cereals and 200 million tonnes of meat.

“Achieving the conflicting aims of producing more food to attain global security for an ever-increasing population while at the same time combating climate change is one of, if not the most important policy challenges for the world today.”


Mr Coveney added: “We are faced with the competing challenges of achieving food security, adapting to climate change and at the same time sustainably managing critical resources such as water, energy and land.”

European farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos said boosting agricultural production was increasingly an international question – in terms of trade, food security, fighting world poverty, climate change and the management of natural resources.

“It is clear that the problem of food security cannot be solved only by increasing production. We must also reduce waste – by consumers, mainly in places like Europe, and when food is stored in places like African and Asian countries.”

At the same time, policy-makers needed to give farmers more clarity and incentive to invest, said Mr Ciolos. “We have capital available to invest in agriculture, but if we are not able to deal with price volatility – for example, by more market transparency – we won’t attract that investment.”

NFU Peter Kendall said he was pleased there was a consensus about the need to increase food production. It wasn’t many years ago that former DEFRA secretary Margaret Beckett was suggesting farmers should become little more than park keepers, he added.

The issue of reducing food waste was extremely complicated, said Mr Kendall during a Q&A with journalists. At farm level, waste was often due to bad weather. Further along the supply chain, it was down to issues like timing, price and consumer education.

The culture of making food go further, for example by creating three meals from a single chicken, had been lost by many families. Mr Kendall said: “There is a very detailed and nuanced argument to be had around how we reduce food waste – both at the farm level and among consumers.”


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