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Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform, and Islands and SEFARI Gateway are hosting Scotland’s Global Food Security Conference, with the theme ‘Climate Change, Collaboration, and Comparative Advantage’ in Edinburgh, 5th–7th November 2025.  

Invited participants will be welcomed on Wednesday 5th November with an evening reception at the Scottish Parliament. On Thursday 6th November, the main conference will bring together Scottish and international experts in the beautiful surrounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens, to present Scottish research in this area and explore how collaboration, knowledge exchange, and top-quality scientific research can enable all actors to play a role in achieving global food security.  Finally, on Friday 7th November there will be the option for some participants to visit research facilities and living labs. We look forward to lively discussions and ample opportunities for networking.  

As space is limited, attendance at the event is by invite only.

An agenda of events can be viewed here.

Information on the speakers can be accessed here.

A summary note on the conference proceedings can be found here.

All of the slides from the conference are available here.

N.B. Due to late-running parliamentary business, the parliamentary reception will now begin at 19:15 and end at 20:30. We ask that you arrive at parliament at 18:45 to ensure you have time to pass through security and registration.

The event will be hosted by Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) and will feature keynote addresses, breakout sessions, panel debate, networking and posters.

Objectives of the event:

• The event will provide an opportunity for researchers, including early career researchers, across the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Research Portfolio to showcase their research and highlight recent research outputs and impact.
• This networking event will provide a forum for both researchers and policy makers from across the public sector to discuss key cross cutting strategic issues affecting Scotland’s environment, communities and rural economy.
• The event will enable policy colleagues to discuss with the research community policy priorities and potential future evidence needs.
• The event focus this year will be the ENRA Research Strategy 2027-2032. The consultation on the draft Scottish Government ENRA Research Strategy 2027-2032 is now open and can be accessed here.
• The focus of posters will be showcasing of impact arising from the 2022-2027 Research Portfolio.

As space is limited, attendance at the event is by invite only.

SEFARI Gateway are supporting the event and coordinating the posters exhibition, where 30 posters, featuring projects from the Strategic Research Portfolio, funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural Environment Science and Analytical Service (RESAS) and addresses key mid to longer-term challenges for Scotland’s environment, agriculture, land use, food and rural communities, will be presented at the event. 

The draft programme will follow shortly.

Posters that were presented at the conference can be accessed here - ENRA 2025 Poster Presentations | SEFARI

Ticks are external blood-sucking parasites that feed on a variety of hosts including livestock, wildlife and humans. The most common tick in the UK is the sheep tick (Ixodes [I.] ricinus) which is indiscriminate, feeding on a wide range of hosts, from birds to small and large mammals, including humans, whereas many other species of ticks feed more selectively on specific animal species. The sheep tick can carry pathogens responsible for several diseases including louping ill (LI), tickborne fever (TBF), babesiosis (red water), Lyme disease, tick pyaemia and tickborne encephalitis (TBE). 

These diseases can cause significant economic losses to farmers but may also impact on human health. Heavy tick infestations themselves may cause ill-health such as irritation, anaemia and production losses even if no diseases are transmitted. A growing concern facing livestock producers in the UK is the increased risk from ticks and associated tick-borne diseases (TBDs). Factors influencing the increase in ticks and TBDs include:

• Climate change resulting in a wider geographic spread or earlier activity of ticks
• Increased wildlife movement and geographic spread with more ticks' hosts and reservoirs
• Shifts in land use and agricultural practices, such as rewilding and reforestation

All these factors can have an impact on ticks and TBDs expansion, which is concerning and particularly relevant for upland areas of the UK, of which Scotland has many. 

With the support of the Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutions (SEFARI) Innovative Knowledge Exchange (IKE) Fund and led by the Moredun Research Institute (MRI), with partners Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland (BioSS) and the University of Glasgow, a one-day workshop was organised and held at MRI on the 6th of September 2024. The focus of the workshop was to discuss the challenges posed by ticks and TBDs expansion, promote exchange of information, build a coordinated network to improve industry guidelines and explore practical solutions. The morning of the workshop was designed to be a fact-finding exercise with presentations and sharing of experiences, with the afternoon focusing on addressing specific questions within focus groups. The workshop was by invitation only (80 stakeholders) to make it as relevant and as broad as possible but also focused. Effective management of ticks and TBDs requires a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders, to ensure that the differing priorities of the farming community, veterinary and pharmaceutical industries, land management and game sector, public health bodies, policy makers and conservationists are addressed and that all affected are involved in the decision making.

This report investigates the state of knowledge on the relationship between NbS and the productive land use sectors of agriculture and forestry in Scotland.

Food fraud costs the UK around £2 billion per year, and improving testing methods is key to tackling this issue. However, current techniques often lack the speed and accuracy needed to detect mislabelled meat products. Researchers at the Rowett Institute have developed a cutting-edge method called MEATiCode, which can simultaneously identify multiple meat species in a single processed food sample.

Take a look at the blog: 

What can young people's social connections tell us about their migration patterns in rural Scotland? | SEFARI

Read the policy briefs:

https://sefari.scot/document/social-connections-young-people-rural-areas-policy-briefing

https://sefari.scot/document/barriers-and-facilitators-social-connections-among-young-people-rural-scotland-policy 

The SEFARI Gateway Waste Emissions Science Advisory Group has undertaken a comprehensive review of methodologies used for estimating and forecasting greenhouse gas emissions across Scotland. This analysis spans various technologies including landfill, anaerobic digestion and composting, waste incineration, and wastewater treatment. As Scotland aims to meet stringent environmental targets, ensuring these methodologies are accurate, adaptable, and comprehensive is crucial. This report outlines current practices, assesses their effectiveness, identifies strengths, highlights weaknesses, and proposes enhancements aimed at improving precision and utility for policy applications.

The purpose of this guide is to outline options and considerations for businesses and organisations interested in developing controlled environment growing enterprises in the Highlands and Islands. It is intended for both existing growers looking to diversify their production systems and for businesses, community groups, SMEs, and enterprises with little or no background in horticulture. Drawing on existing horticultural resources and controlled environment agriculture technologies, this guide interprets and tailors the information specifically for the Highlands and Islands context, while signposting readers to more detailed resources where appropriate. It also incorporates insights from expert interviews to inform recommendations on energy supply, site selection, and potential routes to market. 

As such, this guide is designed to serve as a flexible reference, adaptable to the varying needs and knowledge levels of its readers.