The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published its UK Food Security Report 2024, reporting that extreme weather events continue to have a “significant effect” on domestic production.
The UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) is the second in a series of reports which are laid in Parliament and published at least once every three years under the duty in Section 19 of the Agriculture Act 2020.
The last UKFSR was published in December 2021, and this UKFSR reports on data available for the period of 2021 to 2024. It examines past, current and future trends relevant to food security to present a full and impartial analysis of UK food security.
The report is intended as an independent evidence base to inform users rather than a policy or strategy. Defra stated that in practice, this means that it provides Government, Parliament, food chain stakeholders and the wider public with the data and analysis needed to monitor UK food security and develop effective responses to issues.
Defra said that some of the most important takeaways from the report were:
- The UK experienced continued stable growth in the production of food, despite geopolitical and climate shocks
- Climate change, nature loss and water insecurity pose significant risks to the ability of global food production to meet demand over the longer term
- The UK’s overall balance of trade and production is broadly stable
- Extreme weather events continue to have a significant effect on domestic production, particularly arable crops, fruit and vegetables
- The UK continues to be highly dependent on imports to meet consumer demand for fruit, vegetables and seafood
- Agri-food sector labour shortages continue and are compounded by significantly more restrictive access to EU labour since freedom of movement with the EU ended in 2021
- There has been an increase in consumers reporting concerns about food prices since 2021
