What if we could turn methane from manure into energy for farmers and communities, and thereby reduce methane and carbon emissions? What too, if this created income for farming businesses, provided an alternative fuel for their machinery, and created circular systems locally?  With a number of farm trials underway and Cornwall authority exploring the potential, […]

The latest monthly update from the AFN Network+. In this month’s issue, the deadline approaches for scoping study applications, and more.

This report presents the ten European country profiles from Green Alliance’s report A new land dividend (May 2024). The report analyses the potential for alternative proteins to substitute meat and dairy and release land for other purposes. The countries profiled are; Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK.

This paper models animal-sourced protein to plant-sourced protein ratios within a European circular food system, finding that maintaining the current animal–plant protein share while redesigning the system with circular principles resulted in the largest relative reduction of 44% in land use and 70% in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with the current food system.

Anyone who’s tried to unravel and address problems in the agri-food system will know how complex it is: Agri-food researchers, stakeholders, and professionals working towards net zero also have to account for other economic, health, social and environmental issues, which are often multiple, interlinked and overlapping. If this sounds familiar, so will the below characteristics […]

A May round-up of webinars, call for experts, and more…

Trees – what role could they play in helping reduce emissions in our food system? Prof Heiko Balzter (University of Leicester), one our Champions last year, synthesised research on agroforestry in this report – Agroforestry as a tool for net zero in the UK. Key report conclusions; Agroforestry can provide multiple benefits to agriculture: Even when […]

A prominent policy option for carbon sequestration is large-scale tree planting, but the UK is falling far behind on its tree-planting commitments. This report provides an introduction into agroforestry, its benefits for climate and food production, and its role and context in potential futures of the UK agricultural sector.​

The latest monthly update from the AFN Network+. In this month’s issue, our new ECR board, webinars on systems thinking with or without beans, Agroforestry report and more.

This report explores the impacts alternative proteins could have on land use in ten European countries. Under a high innovation scenario, alternative proteins could displace about two thirds of the meat and dairy consumed in Europe by 2050. This would allow the ten studied countries to reduce their reliance on overseas land by 75% and create space for nature recovery and carbon storage.

Recipe for a Liveable Planet is the first comprehensive global roadmap for mitigating the agri-food system’s contributions to climate change. It shows how the agriculture system that produces the world’s food can cut greenhouse gas emissions while continuing to feed the world.

Are we missing a trick with manure management that others around the world are starting to see? New research suggests the scale of UK methane emissions may be larger than first thought – but also that better management could significantly reduce this, while technology could harness emissions to generate energy and income. All of this […]