Food Fears Over Population Expansion

There's a serious skills' shortage in the agricultural industry and one that threatens to stymie plans to feed a rapidly accelerating UK and world population.

On a visit to Northern Ireland, Dr David Llewellyn, Principal of Harper Adams University College, has outlined the latest developments in policies relating to higher education and skills development in the agri-food sector.

Dr Llewellyn highlighted the need to 'join up' national efforts to improve food security as well as some of the latest thinking on UK higher education provision.

He highlighted the Food 2030 Strategy, which set out a framework to increase sustainable food production by 50% by 2030 in the light of a number of global challenges, including a fast-growing world population and climate change.

"Although these are global issues, the UK will not be immune, facing as we do our own concerns about the prospect of climate change and a population set to grow to 71.6m by 2033," he said.

"In January, the Government also launched the UK Cross-Government Food Research and Innovation Strategy, which reported serious shortfalls in high-level skills within the agri-food sector, including in agronomy, livestock science and food production.

"A recent report of the Land Use Foresight Panel highlighted the prospect of conflicting priorities for land use, water supply, conservation and the increasingly fine balance required between increasing agricultural production and environmental management, all of which will require the attention of highly skilled people in the period to 2060," he said.

However, he said that the UK higher education strategy, published last November, was "silent on the issue of food security and, furthermore, a recent report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills has placed the development of skills in agriculture and food production, based on its assessment of their future economic impact, near the bottom of a table for priority attention in the period to 2017".

"This flies in the face of sector-based evidence that there are significant skills shortages, and skills gaps, in agriculture and food production that need to be addressed," the senior academic continued.

He said the skills sector body, LANTRA estimates, that the land-based industries will require up to 60,000 new entrants over the next ten years, whilst the position in the food sector is equally as serious.

"The agri-food sector has also been active in producing its own cross-industry skills development strategy, showing that there is a willingness, on the part of industry, to recognise that skills development will be an important factor in tackling food security," he continued.

"But there is a need for all parts of the sector, from industry leaders to those in education, to continue to press home the message to the new Government that to deliver the key objectives of Food 2030, highly skilled people will be needed, that they are already in short supply and that there are relatively few UK higher education institutions with the resources and expertise able to help fill the gaps that could quickly emerge if action is not taken now.

"The consequences of missing this opportunity are stark, not only for the future capacity and capabilities of the agri-food sector to handle new innovations in science and technology, but for the consequences that a shortage in appropriate skills in sustainable food production, and a well resourced and practically focussed science base.

"This could impact on the future availability of UK-based food supplies, consumer choice, and wider issues of concern to UK society such as the health and well-being of our growing population," he concluded.

(BMcC/GK)