To mark World Food Day the AFN Network+ (UKRI Agri-food for Net Zero Network+) is proud to announce funding of more than £500,000 for 15 innovative projects which aim to support the UK agri-food sector through the transition to a net zero UK by 2050. 

This year World Food Day focuses on ‘Rights to foods for a better life and a better future’. With food responsible for around one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, transforming agri-food offers a unique opportunity to tackle the threat of climate change. The projects we are funding address some of the critical challenges we face as we work towards a more sustainable food system.

Funded projects

A number of the projects focus on making healthy food more accessible to everyone:

• Monitoring the impact of low emission vegetarian and vegan menus which are being rolled out across primary schools in Newcastle this year, led by Mackenzie Fong at Newcastle University.
• Working with WellFed Cornwall to develop a tool to measure the potential benefits (to individuals and wider society) of social prescribing of healthy food, led by Mark Wilson at the University of Bath.
• Partnering with the Planet Card initiative in Cardiff, to explore how access to local alternative food networks such as farmers’ markets can help people facing food insecurity whilst also promoting a just transition to net zero.  Led by Helena Knight and Caroline Verfuerth at Cardiff University Business School
• Exploring how low-trophic seafood eg. mussels can be integrated into convenience foods to increase their nutritional value, and help diversify diets and reduce carbon footprints, particularly for people on low incomes. Led by Stephanie Horn, at the University of Stirling.

Many of the funded projects focus on helping farmers navigate the path to net zero:

• Helping farmers monitor and report carbon storage in agroforestry systems by developing a model to estimate the carbon stored in soil, trees and hedges. This will be integrated into the Cool Farm Tool, which helps farmers manage their environmental impact. Led by Casey Ryan at the University of Edinburgh.
• Working with beef and sheep farmers across the UK to develop breeding strategies that reduce greenhouse gases but are also practical and affordable. Led by Katharina Watson at the Royal Agricultural University.
• Creating a program to monitor and understand how soil carbon stocks and biodiversity improve when moving from traditional farming to more regenerative methods. Led by David Johnson at the University of Manchester.
• Exploring the institutional barriers to agricultural wilding (introducing and conserving wild crops and plants for agricultural purposes) on upland and lowland farming systems, and the solutions to overcoming them and promoting agricultural wilding as a viable and fair solution at a critical time for farming and land-use policies in the UK. Led by Lídia Cabral at the Institute of Development Studies and Food Equity Centre.
• Exploring and prioritising regenerative agricultural practices that can deliver net zero from a farmers’ perspective, by identifying the practices that can promote storing carbon in the soil and reduce GHG emissions while enhancing productivity. Led by Karen Rial-Lovera at Royal Agricultural University.
• Empowering farmers to estimate the level of soil organic carbon content in their fields, through the assessment of soil colour.  By developing this new method, the project aims to raise awareness of soil health and carbon sequestration. Led by Lucie Büchi at the Natural Resources Institute (University of Greenwich).
• Working with Marks and Spencer, to evaluate the trade-offs in relation to the choices beef farmers make when trying to reduce the environmental impact of beef production, with the aim of limiting potential negative trade-offs. Led by Michelle Cain at Cranfield University.

Other projects focus on collaborating with policymakers, businesses and institutions to provide evidence and insights that will help accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system:

• Working with farming businesses in Leeds and Bristol, to gather evidence on the benefits and barriers of transitioning to agroecology. The aim is to give policymakers practical steps to accelerate the transition towards more agroecological food systems. Led by Chiara Tornaghi at Coventry University.
• Assessing how substantive environmental changes in large landholding trajectories can be enabled, with a specific focus on succession processes. Led by Naomi Beingessner at The James Hutton Institute.
• Looking at how local authorities and their partners can work together to integrate climate policies. Using Gloucestershire as a case study, the project will identify actions that local councils and their partners can take to support positive changes for food and farming as well as health and wellbeing, which are also an efficient use of public money. Led by Aimee Morse at the University of Gloucestershire.
• Investigating the affordability, sustainability, and nutritional quality of insect protein-based diets compared to alternative protein diets for university students. Led by Stephen Axon at Bournemouth University.

Harnessing research to transform UK agri-food

Supporting innovative collaborations between academic researchers and food system practitioners, these 15 projects provide critical research and practical solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,  increasing carbon storage in the soil and building a more sustainable food system across the UK. 

The AFN Network+ is a three year project which was set up in 2022 with £5 million funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It aims to bring together UK researchers, policymakers, third-sector organisations and agri-food industry professionals from farmers to retailers to explore effective ways to support industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental sustainability.

The UK’s agri-food industry produces around a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it is uniquely placed to sequester emissions from other sectors and so is key to helping the country meet its net zero goals by 2050.

The projects were awarded up to £50k each and bring together multidisciplinary teams.

Professor Sarah Bridle, AFN Network+ Co-Lead and Chair of Food, Climate and Society at the University of York said: “World Food Day raises awareness of the need for everyone to have access to nutritious, affordable, safe and sustainable foods.

“Given the large contribution of food to climate change, and the huge potential it offers to help solve climate change,  we are really excited to support these 15 innovative projects and look forward to seeing the valuable insights they will provide.”

Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director for Cross-Council Programmes at EPSRC, said: “By harnessing a diverse range of innovative approaches, these projects will play an important role in reducing the environmental impact of the food industry, which is responsible for around a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

“It shows that while the agri-food industry is a major contributor to climate change, it will also be part of the solution through radical innovation across manufacturing, retail, consumption and waste management.”

Further information:

• The Network is funded by four of UK Research and Innovation’s research councils: the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with the UKRI investment managed by EPSRC.

About the funding:

Awards were granted at 80% full economic cost (FEC) and UKRI rules regarding eligible costs applied.