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.
Collective insurance products are uncommon and to support farmers in experimenting and taking risks as a group, our project explores the design of a new model of collective insurance for farmers trying new climate-smart practices as a cohort, across a catchment.
This project was one of 16 scoping studies to receive funding from the AFN Network+ in 2023. In this blog, project lead Maria Traka and Laura Bardon from Quadram Institute Bioscience describe why they’re developing a sustainability data map for the UK dairy food chain. Our food system produces a third (34%) of global greenhouse gas emissions. […]
We know that we need to make the food system in the UK better for the environment. Our project will focus on meat, and the potential willingness of consumers to integrate alternative proteins into their diet.
Although manure is a big emitter of greenhouse gases, it is also a valuable resource for farmers. It can be used as an organic fertiliser, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers, which are expensive and emit high quantities of carbon dioxide during production, while increasing soil carbon storage. However, the release of gases from manure during storage reduces the fertility of the manure once it’s applied to the field.
The UKRI Agri-food for Net Zero Network+ (AFN Network+) has awarded more than £200,000 to projects which help address the challenge of reaching net zero through agri-food. The projects include a web app to help farmers forecast greenhouse gas emissions from their manure, a scheme to replace soya with faba beans in chicken feed and […]
Synthetic fertilisers are a significant contributor of greenhouse gases in agriculture, and tackling them is vital. In June Nicholas Pitts from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, India Langley and Lilly Manzoni from LettUs Grow, and Dr Alexandros Stratakos, Associate Professor in Sustainable Agri-Food Production at UWE Bristol, came together at the AFN Network+ Crucible event in Bristol to […]
In June the AFN Network+ ran a two-day Crucible workshop, in which researchers and food stakeholders came together to develop ideas for projects which support our mission of getting the agri-food sector to net zero. Projects competed for funding with two Scoping Studies selected as winners. One of those two winning teams was led by […]
We are delighted to announce two exciting new opportunities from the AFN Network+ We invite you to apply for funding to carry out work which supports our mission of reaching net zero through the agri-food sector. The funded projects will involve at least one non-academic food system stakeholder in a meaningful way, and be interdisciplinary […]
