A £2.6 million challenge to encourage innovation in the production and supply of locally grown food has been launched.
The project, which is a partnership between Cardiff Council, Monmouthshire County Council, the Cardiff Capital Region Challenge Fund, Welsh Government, and the SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) Centre of Excellence, aims to identify and support projects that can harness the potential of land, technology and people to increase the sustainable production and supply of locally grown food in the Cardiff Capital Region.
The Challenge requires applicants to clearly demonstrate:
- How they will increase the sustainable production of food in the region and generate positive economic, social and environmental impacts.
- How they will supply nutritious, locally grown food whilst ensuring a fair price for producers and the wellbeing of future generations.
Cardiff Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Cllr Caro Wild, said: “How we produce, supply and consume food in the future is going to play a big part in how successful we are in responding to the unprecedented challenges posed by climate-change and biodiversity loss, as well as diet-related illness.
“Those challenges, and the challenges posed by the ongoing impact of the pandemic, Brexit, increasing energy prices, and the war in Ukraine, also offer an opportunity for change – to capitalise on our local assets, to harness the potential of land, technology and people to increase the sustainable production and supply of food grown right here, in the Cardiff Capital Region.”
Monmouthshire County Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Environment, Cllr Catrin Maby, said: “This project presents a really exciting opportunity for innovative regional businesses to come forward with projects that will seek to sustain the production and supply of our locally grown food for generations to come.
“As the cost of living crisis continues to impact families, food security is becoming more and more important. We therefore need to grasp every opportunity to facilitate a transition to a food system that can provide affordable and healthy food at the same time as reducing negative environmental impacts”.
The competition, which is funded by the CCR (Cardiff Capital Region) Challenge Fund and Welsh Government, and hosted by Cardiff Council, will run in three phases, with success to be evaluated by 2025.
