Resilience Phosphorus UK

Why is phosphorus important?

without phosphorus, we cannot produce food

Phosphorus is a key nutrient required for crop and livestock production, but the global reserves of phosphate rock from which fertilisers and feeds are derived are a finite resource found only in a few countries. The UK has no domestic source of phosphorus, therefore the sustainable management of phosphorus is critical to the UK food system.

About the project

The RePhoKUs (The Role of Phosphorus in the Resilience and Sustainability of the UK Food System) project ran between 2018 and 2021 and aimed to re-focus phosphorus use in the UK food system in order to achieve sustainable phosphorus use and deliver valued ecosystem services. The total annual value of ecosystem services to the UK was £87 billion in 2022 (3% of GDP). The UK has no domestic source of phosphorus and is reliant on imports for fertilisers, feeds and foods. UK agriculture is therefore vulnerable to future global shortages of phosphorus and fluctuating import prices. Phosphorus leakage from land to water also causes widespread and costly pollution, which is likely to become worse as imports increase in line with higher demand for food and if inefficiencies are not addressed. This project undertook the first ever phosphorus vulnerability assessment of the UK’s food system, bringing together experts in catchment science, adaptive capacity and food system vulnerability. Currently three members of the team operate under the banner of 'RePhoKUs', recognising the project which brought them together.

The researchers

Meet the team