Monthly Archives: June 2019

Farmers and researchers join forces to tackle food production challenges

Farmers and researchers join forces to tackle food production challenges

The future of efficient farming and sustainable crop production was up for debate when fifty farmers and agribusiness representatives from across the UK visited one of N8 AgriFood’s research farms.

For the first time ever, N8 AgriFood opened the doors to one of its five research farms for an Open Day, in an effort to share expertise and hear first-hand about the challenges facing the sector.

Held at the University of Leeds’ Spen Farm facility,

N8 AgriFood and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS) sign Memorandum of Understanding

N8 AgriFood and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS) sign Memorandum of Understanding

Nanjing, 26 June 2019

Technology transfer and knowledge exchange across the agri-food sector is to be supported by a new partnership between the UK and China as N8 AgriFood teams up with a Chinese agricultural academy to launch a new Research and Innovation Centre.

N8 AgriFood has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS), to support the establishment of the new centre.

N8 AgriFood calls for a “fundamental rethink” in Agritech engineering

N8 AgriFood calls for a "fundamental rethink" in Agritech engineering

Engineering scientists within N8 AgriFood are calling for a fundamental rethink in how agri-tech is taught and understood if the UK is to avoid being left behind in the global Green Revolution.

A new generation of hybrid biologist-engineers needs to be created in order for precision agriculture to truly hit mainstream farming, with a requirement for Government and industry to join forces to fund specialised training programmes.

Precision agriculture has widely been regarded as a solution to many of the challenges facing the farming sector as food producers look to feed a growing global population amid extreme weather due to climate change and an increase in the tolerance of pests and weeds with an equally increasing level of regulation to protect the environment.

N8 AgriFood calls on social media firms to stop collecting data from children and selling it to junk food advertisers

N8 AgriFood calls on social media firms to stop collecting data from children and selling it to junk food advertisers

N8 AgriFood has published an open letter calling on social media bosses to stop collecting data from children in a fight to protect youngsters from being targeted by persuasive and unhealthy marketing campaigns.

Research within the N8 AgriFood programme has found direct links between exposure to marketing of processed foods and beverages that are high in fats, sugars and/or salt (so called ‘HFSS’ items), and an increase in consumption among children.

New brief published to help embed natural capital into Local Industrial Strategies

New brief published to help embed natural capital into Local Industrial Strategies

N8 AgriFood has today presented a brief to the chief executives of Local Enterprise Partnerships across the country advising them on how to embed environmental matters in to Local Industrial Strategies.

Local Enterprise Partnerships, known as LEPs, have been tasked by Government with creating Local Industrial Strategies – a long term plan to promote productivity that will be based on clear evidence and aligned to the national industrial strategy.

N8 AgriFood helps corporate sector plug Government funding gaps in landscape conservation

N8 AgriFood helps corporate sector plug Government funding gaps in landscape conservation

Projects across N8 AgriFood are unlocking the potential of the Corporate sector to plug Government funding gaps in landscape conservation.

The same amount of carbon that would be produced from the emissions of almost 70,000 flights from London to Sydney may be kept out of the atmosphere and locked in UK soil thanks to a pioneering scheme that capitalises on corporate ambitions to cut back carbon footprints.

The project which links private sector investment with the restoration and protection of UK peatlands,

Policy documents to guide post-Brexit food chains

Policy documents to guide post-Brexit food chains

Food systems experts spanning the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England have today published a series of policy documents highlighting some of the major challenges facing the UK food sector in the wake of Brexit.

Potential obstacles raised include shorter cycles for farmer spending reviews, and whether they adhere to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rulings, the current reliability on “just in time” supply chain logistics,

N8 AgriFood Policy Week starts today

N8 AgriFood Policy Week starts today

The marketing of food to children, land use, Brexit, agritech and food systems will be debated by the UK’s food systems experts during a major week of food policy, starting today.

Led by N8 AgriFood, Policy Focus Week 2019, will showcase how research has played an important role in influencing evidence-based policy making.

Policy Focus Week will highlight N8 AgriFood’s broad expertise across food systems and demonstrate how its expertise and knowledge can and has been used to produce evidence-backed policies in government,

N8 AgriFood-IFSTAL Food Systems Training

N8 AgriFood-IFSTAL Food Systems Training

N8 AgriFood-IFSTAL Food Systems Training: Higher Impact through Collaboration

On the 8th and 9th May 2019, N8 AgriFood and IFSTAL delivered a Food Systems Training event at the University of York for doctoral students and early career researchers (ECRs). The purpose of the training was to introduce participants to the concepts, theories and methods of food systems approaches, as well as facilitating reflexive thinking about their role as post-doctoral researchers within food systems.