Fifth Fall Forum - Minimising the Environmental Impact of Sustainable, Resilient, and Nutritious Food Production - Can Science Deliver

Five years ago, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), along with partners in the US, Ireland and Canada, initiated a four-nation collaborative forum to discuss the upcoming priorities for agri-food research. These “big picture” discussions have continued, and four nations have now become five in time for the fifth anniversary event. The “Fall Forum” includes foremost scientists from the four original nations, with New Zealand now joining the forum.

Looking forward to the fifth AFBI-Initiated “Fall Forum”

"MINIMISING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT, AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD PRODUCTION- CAN SCIENCE DELIVER?" Madison, Wisconsin 2017

In order to deal with major global challenges of increased food demand, extreme climatic events and pressure on land use, there is a growing consensus that we need to fundamentally change our food production systems. Sustainable intensification and the ability to produce “more from less” is just one example of an approach which, to be genuinely effective, will increasingly require investment in science with an international dimension in order to generate new knowledge, drive innovation and improve competitiveness.

Northern Ireland is acknowledged across the world for the quality of its agri-food products and as Northern Ireland’s leading scientific research provider, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) embraces a wide range of scientific expertise which provides a strong integrated research approach to agriculture and food production, whilst delivering internationally recognised innovation.

In order to deal with the major global challenges of increased food demand, extreme climatic events and pressure on land use, there is a growing consensus that we need to fundamentally change our food production systems. Sustainable intensification and the ability to produce “more from less” is just one example of an approach which, to be genuinely effective, will increasingly require investment in science with an international dimension in order to generate new knowledge, drive innovation and improve competitiveness.

Together, AFBI and the USDA’s Dairy Forage Research Center have worked to deliver what we genuinely believe will be an inspiring Fall Forum experience, capable of delivering a number of robust international scientific collaborations which will result in measurable benefits for farmers, food producers and communities across the regions.

The programme for the Fall Forum can be downloaded here

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