Failure to invest in land-based skills risks damaging £41 billion sector and UK food security

The land-based sector adds £2.5 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supports 452,900 jobs, often in rural and remote areas.Farming (including horticulture and aquaculture) underpins the agri-food supply chain worth 6% of the UK economy, while generating 4.2 million jobs.Land-based industries are facing a severe skills shortage, with around six in ten jobs in the sector now considered ‘high-demand’ - more than twice the economy-wide average.UK food imports £64 billion a year, with the resultin