The themes for the Global Food Security programme were announced on 29 May. They are:

1. Enhancing productivity;
2. Resilience and sustainability of agricultural landscapes;
3. Increasing resilience of international supply chains; and
4. Influencing food choice for health, sustainability and resilience at the individual and household level.

The programme was co-designed by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; the Economic and Social Research Council; the Natural Environment Research Council; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Food Standards Agency. The three research councils are contributing a total of £14 million to the scheme, and additional contributions are under evaluation at the other agencies.

Up to £7m will be available in the first call, which is expected to open in September 2015.

In a statement, Duncan Wingham, chief executive of NERC, said the programme represented “a strong example of how funding bodies can bring researchers of different disciplines together to tackle a complex problem”.