Dr Stephen Whitfield, University of Leeds, reflects on his experience of attending COP26 as a COP26 Fellow. Attending COP26, as a representative of the University of Leeds, was a real privilege, in both the positive and negative connotations of the word. It was two jam-packed weeks of meeting people from…

Dr Neil Boyle, School of Psychology and member of the Global Food and Environment Institute, University of Leeds, offers a response to Recommendation 13 of the recently published National Food Strategy: to strengthen government procurement rules to ensure that taxpayer money is spent on healthy and sustainable food. The latest…

Researchers from the Global Food and Environment Institute examine the benefits of regenerative agriculture to celebrate World Soil Day. Why is farming such a tough business? The world population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. The market for agricultural products should be booming but global food prices have been…

Samuel Eze, Andrew Dougill, Steven Banwart, Susannah M. Sallu, Rashid N. Mgohele, Catherine J. Senkoro Food insecurity remains a major challenge globally, particularly in Africa where farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, which is vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events such as flooding and drought. With growing demand for…

This blog was written for World Health Day by Dr Will James and Alexandra Dalton. Will is a Teaching Fellow at the School of Geography, University of Leeds. He has research interests in food inequalities and dietary change. Alex is a Data Scientist at the Consumer Data Research Centre, University…

Reflections from Dr Sarah Dennis, University of Leeds, on her career so far and the challenges that come with being a woman in science. — Hello, I am Dr Sarah Dennis and I am the manager of the Global Food and Environment Institute. For me, equality in science is really important. To help solve the issues of the current day we need many different perspectives and opinions.

Reflections from Dr Laura Carter, University of Leeds, on her career so far and the challenges that come with being a woman in science. — I never set out to have a career in academia (which is probably not a great start to a blog about working in academia!). Growing up, I loved exploring and gathering information and asking questions. Frustratingly, I am still only able to make a decision after I have done all…

Dr Helen Coskeran reflects on the lessons learned from managing an international GCRF-funded research programme. AFRICAP — Leeds’ largest GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund) programme aimed at creating climate-smart agriculture and food systems — is coming to an end in March. Since October 2017, the team has produced evidence on…

Dr Bethany Robertson, Research Fellow on the Feeding the Nation project, University of Leeds charts the shifting position of farming during the trajectory of the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, agriculture may have been hidden from public view. Yet the importance of the farming sector became visible during COVID-19 when the…