We welcome research collaborations with industry, policy and NGO partners. Our collective strength is in applying systems thinking and data skills to investigate challenges and opportunities in agriculture, food and environmental security. We are uniquely placed, with skillsets and partnerships that arch across agri-food supply chains and beyond, in both the Global North and South. Our research, which underpins our teaching, is in three interconnected themes: Image 1. Agri-Food Systems Innovation Transformation of global agri-food systems is central to achieving food and environmental security. We investigate and promote innovation in complex food-supply systems – including appropriate new technologies - to deliver sustainable, healthy diets, to drive the transformation towards resilient, fair and sustainable food systems, and to support growth in the wider bio-economy. Our interests include: novel farming systems; understanding the role of livestock-derived foods in sustainable, healthy diets; optimizing use of animal genetic resources and feed resources to develop sustainable livestock systems; soil, crop and livestock management for sustainable intensification; precision agriculture; and agri-business models that support fair value distribution along supply chains. Contact: Prof Alan Duncan 2. Food, People, Planet Human health and wellbeing are inextricably linked with animal, crop, soil and environmental health. Our agri-food systems are putting an increasing burden on the environment and affecting ‘planetary health’. We investigate agri-food system innovations most likely to improve human health and wellbeing and wider planetary health. We investigate the wider societal and environmental impact of agri-food system interventions, and the policy and governance issues around them. Our interests include novel approaches to predict and control crop and livestock diseases and to reduce antimicrobial resistance; developing efficient, environmentally sensitive, sustainable, agri-food systems – systems that reduce waste, are resilient to climate and environmental change, and reduce environmental impact; and regulation of new technologies. Contact: Dr Jonathan Hillier 3. Data-Driven Innovation Advances in data science, communication-, sensor- and earth observation-technologies are driving a ‘fourth revolution’ in agriculture. Data-Driven Innovation is a cross-cutting theme, supporting our work in the Agri-Food Systems Innovation and Food, People, Planet themes. Our interests include data-driven innovation in agri-food system sustainability, including decision support tools, machine learning and artificial intelligence; precision farming; promoting food-supply-chain integrity and authenticity; and modelling, testing and evaluating the impact of agri-food system interventions. Contact: Dr Lisa Boden This article was published on 2024-09-02
