The UK Government has invested £160 million in a new Agricultural Technologies Strategy.  This Strategy is intended to boost agricultural science and technology and it is aimed at delivering sustainable, healthy and affordable food for future generations. Described by some as new “green revolution,” investments will be focused on developing cutting edge technologies and taking innovative products such as “cancer-fighting” broccoli from the field to the shopping aisle. The strategy includes £30m for four agri-science research and innovation campuses set up by the Biotechnolocy and Biological Sciences Research Council.

The workshop was carried out as part of an Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food project on consumer engagements with food governance. The Oxford Food Governance Group project aims to elucidate the emerging forms, roles, and uses of food-related information and communication technologies (ICT) at the consumer level, and how they might shape the EU food governance landscape in years to come.

This report is part of a series of annual progress reports by the Adaptation Sub-Committee to assess how the UK is preparing for the major risks and opportunities from climate change. Together these reports will provide the baseline evidence for the Committee’s statutory report to Parliament on preparedness due in 2015.

The book summary says the following: Farmers' Rights are essential for maintaining crop genetic diversity, which is the basis of all food and agricultural production in the world. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture recognizes Farmers' Rights and provides for relevant measures. However, implementation is slow, and in many countries there is resistance. This book shows the necessity of realizing Farmers' Rights for poverty alleviation and food security, the practical possibilities of doing so, and the potential gains for development and society at large.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD PRESS RELEASE A policy known as sustainable intensification could help meet the challenges of increasing demands for food from a growing global population, argues a team of scientists in an article in the journal Science.