New UK science center targets global food crisis

The United Kingdom will set up a science center to develop climate-resilient crops and identify risks to global food systems, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday.

He made the remarks at the one-day Global Food Security Summit in London, which the UK is hosting alongside Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sunak urged the international community to harness the full power of science and technology in the face of global food insecurity and said the UK is applying its "leadership in science" to the crisis by launching a new virtual science hub that will unite international organizations and link UK scientists working to develop more resilient crops, such as flood-tolerant rice and disease-resistant wheat.

The venture will be run in collaboration with the Consortium of International Agriculture Research Centres, or CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future based in Montpellier, France.

As the prime minister focused on the role of science and technology, leaders and experts at a thematic session at the summit called for greater investment to deliver the benefits of technology for all.

Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said at the session that "consistent and stable commitments" from the politicians are needed to unleash the potential of science and technology because outcomes take time to emerge.

David Ernest Silinde, Tanzania's deputy minister of agriculture, said at the session the advantages of science, technology, and innovation should be accessible to all, particularly smallholder farmers in developing countries, women and young people.

The UK prime minister also unveiled a white paper on international development at the summit that sets out how the UK will help address pressing global challenges in the years up to 2030, including world hunger, extreme poverty, and climate change.

The BBC said UK ministers hope the policy document can help restore the country's reputation as a development superpower. However, the paper confirms the UK will not spend more than it does now, continuing to allocate 0.5 percent of gross national income on foreign aid each year.

Instead, measures that include the unlocking of private-sector money and working in partnership with developing countries will be mobilized, according to the white paper.

The UK government announced in November 2020 that aid spending would fall from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent of gross national income on foreign aid each year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.