Royal Agricultural Society of England welcomes the Foresight report into Global Food and Farming Futures

The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) has welcomed today’s publication of the Foresight report, which highlights the huge challenge the world is going to face in increasing food production to meet the demands of an increasing world population whilst also dealing with the additional challenge of climate change.

RASE Chairman Henry Cator said the Society “welcomed the work, in particular the call for farmers, politicians, scientists and economists to work together to make food production more efficient while dealing with the problems of water and energy.” 

The RASE was founded in 1838 under the banner Practice with Science with the aims of stimulating agricultural innovation, spreading knowledge and learning, and applying best practice to production and land management. The Society recently stated its intention to renew its focus on this core purpose work.

Mr Cator continued: The growth in global population, the increasing threats from climate change and the need to find a way to produce the food that is needed in a genuinely sustainable way makes our work as crucial today as it was in 1838 when the Society was formed. We are already carrying out some excellent work in these areas with recent reports on the lack of soil scientists and soils research, the future availability of fresh water for agriculture and the lack of applied research in the UK. We are committed to expanding on this work in the coming years.”

The Royal Agricultural Society of England, play a leading role in the development of British agriculture and a vibrant rural economy through the uptake of good science, the promotion of best practice. www.rase.org.uk