Meeting global food needs will require effective action on a range of policy fronts, including the use of science to boost productive, resource-efficient agriculture, the promotion of sustainable consumption and continued support for international development objectives.

Those were the key messages delivered at high-level meeting of food policy experts hosted by the Crop Protection Association at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester yesterday (8 October).

Speakers representing politicians, academics, food retailers, media and conservationists agreed that feeding a growing world population in the face of climate change and declining land, energy and water supplies would require major changes in the way we research, produce, consume, store and transport food.

Increased farm productivity was essential, alongside gains in input use efficiency and reduced environmental impact, said Shadow Agriculture Minister James Paice MP, pointing to the pivotal role of scientific innovation in making such improvements possible.