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Science for Sustainable Agriculture aims to ensure the positive contribution of scientific innovation in agriculture and food production is recognised in public life and policy making.

The world needs to increase food supplies by 70% by 2050 to keep pace with a rapidly expanding global population, in the face of climate change and increasing pressure on the world’s finite natural resources.

With its good soils, temperate climate, professional farming sector and world-leading science base, the UK is well placed not only to improve its capacity for sustainable efficient food production, but also to become a global hub for agri-science excellence and innovation: exporting technological solutions, attracting inward investment, and fostering international research collaboration.

Britain has a unique opportunity to lead in these fields, and to put scientific rigour and evidence at the heart of UK policy development. Science for Sustainable Agriculture provides a focal point for debate around modern, sustainable agriculture and food production. Our aim is to promote a conversation rooted in scientific evidence, rather than doctrine and ideology.

We bring together like-minded individuals and organisations to champion and explain the vital role science and technology have to play in safeguarding our food supply, tackling climate change and protecting the natural environment.  We also stand ready to expose, comment on and challenge unscientific positions or policy decisions in relation to sustainable agriculture.

View the prospectus setting out the objectives and vision of SSA

Related Organisations

Connected Content

Farm-PEP aims to bring together all the sources of useful knowledge for Agriculture, whether from academic science, applied research projects, industry trials, farmers own trials or simple on-farm experience. Listed below are useful websites, organisations and websites that we know of.  Add any we've missed in the comments box or by adding as new content, or better still, as a new Group.  

Regenerative farming looks to optimise the use of the ecological system and environment, in order to benefit from the natural ecosystem services that they provide.

Are environmental benefits (carbon, biodiversity...) best served by sharing agricultural land with nature, or by maximising yield in some areas to spare tracts of land exclusively for nature in other areas?  

The agri-tech sector is vibrant and growing, with many exciting companies, organisations and networks are working to develop agri-tech solutions.

Agricultural research is conducted by a range of organisations, from individual farmers, through advisors, distributors, manufacturers, charities, societies, supply chain companies, levy bodies, universities and research institutes.  This page aims to connect across these often disparate sources.

A range of digital technologies promise to transform agriculture, including sensing, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless networks & IoT, big data, decision support tools, modelling, digital twins and precision farming. 

This topic refers to the whole food supply chain, from farm fork, and all the products and services that contribute to food production.

Knowledge Exchange in Agriculture in the UK is diverse, with many organisations involved. That is part of the reason for creating Farm-PEP, to help provide connections to what many percieve as a fragmented landscape.

Policy plays a critical role in shaping the agriculture industry in the UK and Europe. Government policies can have a major impact on the way that farmers operate, the crops they grow, and the prices they receive for their products. Policy has a major effect on how land is managed and environmental outcomes.

As a thought-piece for Science for Sustainable Agriculture, science communicator Dr Julian Little examines two contrasting approaches taken by leading food businesses to promote more sustainable agriculture and food production – the apparently “unscalable” regenerative agriculture, and sustainable intensification. Which approach is most likely to deliver the necessary increases in global food production while at the same time reducing agriculture’s footprint, delivering net zero and leaving room for nature? And are they in conflict?

Article by Dr Julian

Article by Paul Temple in May 2022 for

Genetic technologies can help deliver the objectives of regenerative agriculture, say

Innovation in agriculture refers to the development and implementation of new ideas, technologies, and practices in the agricultural sector.

Gene editing is a molecular technique that can be used in agriculture to modify the DNA of plants and animals to improve their traits. 

Thought piece from Mat

Article by Matt Ridley

Meeting humankind’s burgeoning food and energy requirements sustain