Future food systems will face unique challenges in order to meet the nutritional needs of an increasing population which need to both cater for our lifestyle choices and address our growing environmental concerns. For example, an important issue will be an increased demand for protein, while confronting environmental challenges, such as climate change. We need to consider the environmental consequences of our dietary choices if our food system is to remain secure.
The unpreceded COVID-19 health, economic and societal crisis has understandably dominated Gateway’s recent activity. Gateway, on behalf of the SEFARI Directors Executive, has prepared a report on the huge effort that all institutes and staff have undertaken to help the fight against COVID-19.
Around half of the food we consume in the UK is imported, with 30% from the European Union and the rest from countries all over the World. Aside from the risks of food supply disruption, the developing countries we import from are already suffering the environmental impacts from food production including increased greenhouse gas emissions.
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 introduced several measures to ensure that there is a sustained focus across the Scottish Government and the public sector to meet the needs of island communities, now and in future. Data on small rural and island communities is often lacking, which provides challenges for the Scottish Government and Local Authorities to understand the specific challenges facing island communities and form effective policy measures to address them.
2019 was an important year for Scotland's islands, with the development of The National Islands Plan, an increased focus on repopulation, and concern about the consequences of Brexit.
Hemp could play a role in the development and expansion of a low carbon, environmentally responsible industry, bringing a new ‘cash-crop’ to Scottish agriculture and offering new job opportunities across the supply chain. This type of low carbon innovation is currently supported by the Scottish Government in the public sector (i.e.
This scoping study explored the extent of the gender pay gap in rural Scotland, how it has changed over recent years, and potential reasons that might explain its extent and fluctuations over time.
The project involved a review of existing literature on the gender pay gap, focusing particularly on rural areas, and a review of secondary data on the extent of the gender pay gap in urban and rural Scotland.
Jenny is an Agricultural Economist at SRUC, and her areas of work include analysis of the intentions of Scottish farmers through data analysis of surveys, currently with a specific focus on intentions and views surrounding Brexit. Jenny is also involved in research focused on reviewing measures to improve productivity within Scottish agriculture. She additionally contributes to publications on agriculture and rural development policy produced within the research division of SRUC.
Through a series of Rural Business Surveys, our research is developing a better understanding of the characteristics, contributions and aspirations of rural businesses across the South and North-East of Scotland.
Mark is a Land Use System Modeller at the James Hutton Institute. He joined the Institute in 1999, working on the Land Allocation Decision Support System (LADSS) project researching land management issues at the farm scale. From this work his interests developed to follow interdisciplinary research covering social and biophysical sciences.
The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK