Global Challenges Academy

Food Security

Food Security

Our research is at the forefront of agritech innovation, food supply chains, consumer behaviour, policy and health. We provide leading experts for securing the future of agriculture globally. This network brings together relevant research in climate adaptation, fertiliser production, overdosing of vitamin A, post-harvest food loss, land degradation and many others.

Projects

Find out more about our projects.

Team

Our partners

  • Bill & Melinda Gates FoundatioN, USA
  • IAEA
  • International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
  • Penn State University, USA
  • University of California, Davis, USA
  • University of California, Berkeley, USA 

Newcastle University staff

Dr Martin Cooke
Director Postgraduate Studies

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5313

Dr Julia Cooper
Lecturer in Soil Science

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 6883

Professor Robert Edwards
Emeritus Professor

Telephone: 0191 208 6869

Dr Alistair Ford
Lecturer in Geospatial Data Analytics and Policy Academy Fellow

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7121

Dr Nathan Forsythe
Newcastle University Research Fellow

Email:
Telephone: 0191 208 6875

Professor Hayley Fowler
Professor of Climate Change Impacts

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7113

Professor Lynn Frewer
Professor of Food & Society

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 8272

Professor Oliver Heidrich
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6563

Professor Alexandra Hughes
Dean of Research & Innovation

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5176

Professor Georg Lietz
Professor of International Nutrition

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6893

Dr Elisa Lopez-Capel
Senior Lecturer in Soil Science

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6928

Professor David Manning
Professor of Soil Science

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6610

Dr Luca Panzone
Senior lecturer in Consumer Behaviour

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 1912083594

Dr Marion Pfeifer
Associate Professor, Landscape Ecology and Management

Email:
Telephone: 0191 20 85626

Professor Mark Reed
Prof of Socio-Technical Innovation

Email:
Telephone: 07538082343

Dr Gavin Stewart
Senior Lecturer in Evidence Synthesis

Dr Wendy Wrieden
Principal Research Associate

Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5581

Dr Natalia Yakovleva
Senior Lecturer in International Business Strategy

Email:
Telephone: +44(0)203 752 2448

Impact

Global Challenge

For food systems to be fit for purpose and sustainable they must transform to deliver the needs of populations that depend on them for survival. This is especially those most vulnerable to environmental challenges: climate change, drought, and flooding. 

Our research in food systems is developing the innovative tools and technologies needed to:

  • tackle food security
  • prevent malnutrition
  • address pesticide and herbicide resistance
  • adapt to climate change
  • conserve water resources
  • combat land degradation

How we are making a difference

  • working with communities in low to middle income countries to co-design research and co-produce knowledge in food systems using a multi-stakeholder approach
  • preventing food waste and incorporating sustainability practices into food manufacturing
  • using renewable energy to prevent post-harvest food losses and increase agricultural productivity
  • low-input agriculture and targeted pest management using biopesticides
  • tracking nutrient supply chains for feeding cities

Where we are having an impact

 

Publications

Read and download our publications:

  • Between abstract ethical discourse and the moral experience of Northern Cape farmers (2016). Environment and Planning A

    Date Published: 17 October 2016 Read more
  • Mobilizing the ethical consumer in South Africa (2015). Geoforum

    Date Published: 17 July 2017 Read more
  • Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study (2017)

    Date Published: 17 August 2017 Read more
  • A New Dryland Development Paradigm Grounded in Empirical Analysis of Dryland Systems Science (2017). Land Degradation and Development

    Date Published: 14 February 2017 Read more
  • A Place-Based Approach to Payments for Ecosystem Services (2017)

    Date Published: 12 February 2017 Read more
  • The need for formal evidence synthesis in food policy: A case study of willingness to pay (2017). Animals

    Date Published: 10 March 2017 Read more
  • Mineral supply for sustainable development requires resource governance (2017)

    Date Published: 15 March 2017 Read more
  • Transcriptome sequencing identifies novel persistent viruses inherbicide resistant wild-grasses (2017). Scientific Reports

    Date Published: 06 February 2017 Read more