How can science and technological innovation support global food security?
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee will hear from academics and experts in the first evidence session of its inquiry into Innovation and global food security.
With the global population projected to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2025, the UN estimates that global food production will have to increase by 70%. The Committee’s inquiry will examine how UK science, innovation and technology can help increase global agricultural productive and support global food security.
In the first panel, the cross-party Committee will hear from Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, and Professor Cristobal Uauy, Director of the John Innes Centre. MPs could explore the current challenges facing global food security, agricultural research and how technology can be used to improve crop genetics.
Meeting details
The Committee will then question Imran Afzal, CEO of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre, and Dr Hannah Cooper, an Agronomy professor at the University of Nottingham. Questions may investigate the importance of soil heath to food security, as well as the future of ‘alternative proteins’, which are meat made from plants, cultivated from animal cells or produced via fermentation.