Food security is national security – climate science must be a national science

Categories

Published 19th December 24

By Kalyan Sarma, VP of Climate, Environment, and Sustainability Commercialisation at Ploughshare

We find ourselves in an era where the most significant obstacles and questions hover over the climate. Human-made climate change is one of the biggest issues affecting populations – regardless of wealth – and addressing that change is slow. We need to do more, but it is a difficult area to focus on due to the depth of the problem that we face, and the variety of aspects to address within the area. With that in mind, it’s in our interests to find a few things to focus on solving to get the ball rolling with ideas and innovations. One thing that is both critical to the security of our nation, as well as the economy, is food security.

Food security impacts national security, simple as that. It highlights supply chain vulnerabilities, resource dependencies, and adaptability to changes in accepted safety standards, technology, and climate. Addressing food security as a project of critical national importance, therefore, is a crucial aspect of maintaining a trinity of sovereignty, resilience, and defence readiness. Given the unsteadiness of the world currently, coupled with an uncertain future in terms of geopolitical alliances and relationships, alongside climate change (which is a big problem in itself), we need to use the scientific community we have to create national-level strategies that address resilience in our own food systems.

For the defence industry, it may not seem like this is linked, but really it is. Government research out of Dstl focuses heavily on the use of data to be able to better prepare our own climate, environmental and sustainability (CES) projects – these solutions can and should be used to ensure a resilient food supply chain in the UK. Equally, better innovations in logistics will enable a stronger supply chain anyway, along with being able to adapt and identify underlying issues with transport itself. After all, logistics can affect everything from supplying food to your local supermarket, to moving troops up and down the country effectively.

These innovations don’t come from nowhere – and they need help. Innovation and invention take time and financial backing. Unfortunately, financial backing from government is not infinite – the amount available are a fantastic help, but more is needed. Private industry needs to get involved too and benefit not only from a financial point of view with innovation that is dual-use at its heart, but also from a moral standpoint. Doing good science makes a positive impact, and defence research is no different. Your microwave, your GPS, your plane engines that allow travel all come from defence research and it would be wrong to say that this hasn’t positively benefitted our lives.

Innovation is the key to being able to continue to bring our agriculture and food production more generally from good to great. It means we can advance more with sustainable fuels, create healthier foods for the public, and ensure a stronger supply chain and resilience in the country more generally. It’s a no-brainer, and the opportunity should be grabbed with both hands by those wanting to make a difference. The positive impact that this type of collaboration, determination, and desire to do good could be immense. It just needs a long-term outlook and proactivity from both government and Industry to come together.

The first person to make that first step in the right direction will be joining other trailblazers – and others will follow and wonder why they didn’t get more involved sooner.