The transforming food production (TFP) challenge supports new ways to produce food that reduces emissions and pollution, and contributes to feeding a growing world population.
The aim is to:
The TFP challenge is supporting new ways to produce food that reduce emissions and pollution, and contribute to feeding a growing world population.
We are investing up to £90 million of funding to help businesses, researchers and industry to transform food production, meet the growing demand and move towards net zero emissions by 2040.
It is predicted that 60% more food will be needed worldwide by 2050 to feed the increasing global population. To do this, we need to be able to produce resilient and sustainable food more efficiently. This will reduce emissions and pollution, minimise waste and improve soil.
Funding will be invested in:
This funding stream will stimulate the development of new high-value food production systems. To date, we have invested over £16 million in projects led by five innovative companies.
We will strengthen connections between innovative businesses, farmers and end users. The aim is to accelerate the development and adoption of precision approaches to increase agricultural productivity, while supporting the sector in achieving net zero emissions by 2040.
This funding stream have awarded over £14 million to projects.
This is a programme to identify and accelerate shared international priorities and help build export opportunities for pioneering agricultural technologies and innovations with partners overseas. It currently includes two streams:
Innovate UK research shows that the UK lags internationally on late-stage investment in agri-tech. We will create new approaches to working with the investment community to explore and accelerate the commercial potential of new technologies and attract private investments into UK businesses.
To address a lack of private agri-tech investment, we have created an investor partnership programme to encourage venture capital firms to take a stake in innovative UK agri-tech businesses working to achieve net zero emissions.
The programme aims to deliver government grant and venture capital funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) close to taking their product to the market. It is set to deliver £5 million in grant funding for late-stage projects, coupled with private investment matched by a ratio of at least two to one by the private investors.
The investor partnership programme is seeking small and medium-sized businesses aspiring to transform food production while targeting net zero by 2040, with focus areas including:
The farming innovation programme is a partnership between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and UKRI to increase innovation in farming, through investment in research and development for a more efficient and productive sector.
It will support ambitious projects to transform productivity and enhance environmental sustainability in England’s agricultural and horticultural sectors, while driving the sectors towards net zero.
The programme’s aims are to:
For more details, visit the farming innovation site.
It is predicted that 60% more food will be needed worldwide by 2050 to feed the increasing global population. To do this, we need to be able to produce resilient and sustainable food more efficiently. This will reduce emissions and pollution, minimise waste and improve soil, and help the sector get on a trajectory to realise net zero emissions by 2040.
Funding, support and collaborative activity will focus on four key areas:
From animal health to crop management, robotics to pest control, the food sector in the UK needs to innovate to meet demands on its:
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Farming Innovation Programme (FIP), delivered by Innovate UK, is leveraging the TFP challenge team’s experience and deep industry knowledge to guarantee the effective delivery of this programme.
FIP funds projects that benefit farmers, growers and foresters in England.
Find out more about current and future opportunities within FIP.
Search for UKRI Challenge Fund funding and any wider opportunities.
Read more about UKRI business funding opportunities.
A total of 92 projects have benefited from TFP funding, which have included 316 different organisations engaged through the consortia developed in project applications.
Download the digital project portfolio brochure: catalysing the transition to net zero food production.
The breadth of engagement, funding and overall success of the TFP challenge can be seen by the scope of innovations from 10 stand-out success stories, which spread across a number of key areas.
Read the project case studies: catalysing the transition to net zero food production: delivering impact.
Watch the TFP challenge delivering impact video case studies.
Last updated: 9 January 2024
