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Food Supply in the 21st Century: The New Dynamic

This Chatham House project ran from 2007 to 2008 and focused on the future, examining the effects of global trends on the networks that supply two staples, wheat and dairy, to the UK market.

Project stakeholders can LOGIN HERE to the Food Supply Project Website.

The work was built around a core panel of stakeholders with research expertise drawn from centres of excellence around the country. Highlighting the challenges to be faced, it gave participants a system-wide perspective and developed, through scenario-based analysis, options across each supply network.

Research undertaken between March and November 2007 included a series of interviews and discussions with leading players within and around Britain's wheat and dairy supply networks. The work indicated widespread doubts about the ability of global food production to meet rising demand, with constraints on the availability of energy, water and land frequently identified as issues of particular significance. Overall, there was an expectation of significant structural change in existing food supply arrangements and the policies that support them; and a belief that Britain as a society has a number of important choices to make if it is to secure the kind of supply arrangements that best support its interests.

These preliminary findings informed subsequent research and the development of four global scenarios that could shape the future of the UK's food supply. The range of variables considered in this process included:

• global responses, including from major emerging economies such as China and India;
• the role of science and technology;
• the respective roles of government, industry and consumers and the best way to encourage desired behaviours and operating practices.

Project Resources

• Food Futures: Rethinking UK Strategy
  Chatham House Report, Feb 09
  
• UK Food Supply: Storm Clouds on the Horizon
  Briefing Paper, Jan 08
  
• Thinking About the Future of Food: The Chatham House Food Supply Scenarios
  Briefing Paper, May 08
• UK Food Supply in the 21st Century: The New Dynamic
  Briefing Paper, Jan 07 - This Briefing Paper sets out the project's aim, scope and initial conclusions

Other Chatham House Resources

• The Feeding of the Nine Billion: Global Food Security for the 21st Century
  Chatham House Report, Jan 09
  
• Rising Food Prices: Drivers and Implications for Development
  Briefing Paper, Apr 08
  

Further Information

Andrew Jarvis
Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House
+44 (0)20 7314 2762
Email Andrew Jarvis >>