A new project to help boost the UK’s food security and prevent unrest driven by food shortages is getting £2m funding from government.
Amid concerns Britain’s food supply chains are too vulnerable and that shortages could quickly trigger civil unrest, experts at Anglia Ruskin University have secured financial backing to “urgently address vulnerabilities in the nation’s food supply”.
The project, called Backcasting to Increase Food System Resilience in the UK, is being led by experts from the university’s Global Sustainability Institute and has received £2,048,461 in funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of the government’s UK Research and Innovation.
It builds on previous research by Anglia Ruskin showing over 40% of food experts believe widespread civil unrest linked to food shortages, such as demonstrations and violent looting, is “possible or likely” in the UK within the next 10 years.
The new project aims to identify and find ways of mitigating the potential tipping points that could lead to unrest, and prioritise the areas within the UK food system that urgently need to strengthen their resilience.
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Academics and supply chain experts believe Britain’s food system relies too heavily on imports, seasonal labour, and just-in-time deliveries – meaning it is “particularly susceptible to disruptions that could lead to a collapse”.
They define this “societal collapse” as a situation where the public lacks access to affordable food, resulting in economic productivity losses, disease outbreaks, extreme hunger, malnutrition, or civil unrest.
Many of the potential causes that experts warn could lead to said collapse include events that have already afflicted global supply chains in recent years, such as geopolitical instability and conflict, pandemics, extreme weather and punishing trade tariffs.
As part of Anglia Ruskin’s initiative, researchers will work closely with key supply chain members including food producers, importers, distributors and retailers.
A “backcasting” mapping exercise will be carried out to identify the most likely pathways leading to civil unrest with a focus on addressing problems in the early stages of each, well before any unrest arises.
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The project also counts with the help of a series of other universities across the country as well as several stakeholders in the food industry, such as Defra, Wrap, the Food Standards Agency, the IGD and Sustain, among others.
Professor Aled Jones, director of the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University, said: “The Backcasting to Increase Food System Resilience in the UK project is a major investment into understanding how future shocks could significantly impact the UK food system and how we can build resilience to these.
“The food system is exposed to various risks from climate change and biodiversity loss to geopolitical events, such as wars or cyberterrorism.
“Supporting the UK’s food system stakeholders from farmers through to retail, by working with them to build on their knowledge to deliver a transformation towards resilience, is vital.”
The project will also involve placements inside organisations focusing on food system challenges, to better understand the interventions that may be possible. The placements will be open to PhDs from across the UK and will be announced in 2026.
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