Why Britain is 'running out of land for food'

Due to growing population and the use of land for energy crops, Britain could face a potential shortfall of two million hectares farmland by 2030.

16:21 25 June 2014

A report released by the University of Cambridge warned that Britain runs the risk of running out of land for food, partly because of growing population and the use of land for energy crops. 

 

Researchers said that if nothing is done to address the issue, the country could face a potential shortfall of two million hectares' worth of farmland by 2030. 

 

Highlighting the alarming findings, the report criticised the government’s lack of coherent vision on how to make the most of UK farmland. 

 

Andrew Montague-Fuller, the report's lead author, said: "That is putting some very significant future pressures on how we use our land.”

 

"If you look at the land that is required under some of the bioenergy projections made by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, that could potentially take some significant chunks of land."

 

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said that the government are taking steps to address the issue. 

 

He said: "We are investing £70 million in agricultural technologies that will help us to increase the efficiency of food production and help our food, farming and science industries grow economically while meeting the increasing global demand for food."

 

There are over 24 million hectares of land area within the UK of which 75% is used for farming.