News - 2024
![Bowl of food with plant-based protein](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Bowl-food-plant-based-protein.webp)
We are excited to announce that Dr Parag Acharya, Senior Fellow in Food Innovation at the Natural Resources Institute, will be partnering with Growing Kent & Medway and Imperial College London’s Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, to develop...
![Close up photo of microplastics on a person's fingers.](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Close%20up%20photo%20of%20microplastics%20on%20a%20persons%20fingers_resized.jpeg)
Oceans play a critical role in sustaining life as we know it. World Oceans Day (8 June) is a time of international recognition and awareness raising about oceans. During this time, many highlight and encourage collective action for healthy oceans...
![Cashew fruit](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Cashew%20fruit.jpeg)
NRI has hosted students over a range of projects as part of the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (Rsif), a programme that trains doctoral students in applied sciences, engineering and technology at African universities partnered with global...
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Women's vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition Despite increased attention and strides in global nutrition efforts, women remain disproportionately vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition compared to men. This disparity stems...
![Bees and other pollinators are vital to our existence](/images/images/nri-news/2024/AdobeStock_338625145_low.jpg)
Bees, butterflies, bats, moths, wasps and other pollinators are essential to our existence. Without their services, much of our food supply, agricultural economies and biodiversity would collapse. Despite their vital roles, many pollinator species...
![Picking tea in Kenya. Global commodity trade has led to large-scale land use changes in the Global South with significant biodiversity loss](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Picking_tea_Kenya.jpeg)
Growing demand for food, fuel and fibre has expanded global commodity trade and large-scale land acquisitions in the Global South. This has resulted in significant land use changes, creating biodiversity losses and social impacts, leading to a...
![Cooperative member demonstrating how to use an alcohol gun to test milk quality.](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Woman_demonstrating_equipment_to_test_milk_quality.jpg)
To achieve gender transformative change, we need to carefully examine the underlying causes of gender inequality. This means challenging existing socio-economic structures and cultural institutions that often reinforce gender inequality. Urgent and...
![Malaria is spread through bites by infected mosquitoes. Over 249 million malaria cases were reported worldwide in 2022](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Mosquito.jpeg)
Malaria remains an enduring threat to millions of people with a death toll of 608,000 across 85 countries in 2022 alone. Today, NRI joins the global community to commemorate World Malaria Day, an occasion to highlight achievements and the need for...
![A farmer harvesting water lily in a flooded field. This is the source of her daily livelihood to support her family.](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Water_lily.jpeg)
Several tools have been proposed to facilitate the adaptation processes necessary for achieving climate resilience in response to new climate and environmental challenges [1]Some of these are embedded in financial inclusion products like...
![Portrait of Jacinta Nyaika](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Jacinta.jpg)
Jacinta Nyaika is a third year PhD student in the Food and Markets Department at NRI. She took five minutes out her day to talk to us about her research on an important food security crop, life at NRI and her future plans.
![A section of participants at the conference](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Fansi-conference-2024.jpg)
NRI successfully hosted the International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa from 20-21 February 2024 at the University of Greenwich campus in London. Organised as part of NRI’s Food and Nutrition Security Initiative (FaNSI), the...
![Tropical forests are rapidly vanishing as they are increasingly converted to farmland](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Deforestation_.jpg)
Tropical forests are vanishing as they are converted to agricultural land to meet the demands of distant markets. The global trade of tropical commodities has raised concerns about deforestation, prompting high-income countries to explore...
![A group of animals at a waterhole in Etosha National park, Namibia](/images/images/nri-news/2024/Animals_at_waterhole_in_Namibia.jpg)
NRI’s Professor of Ecology Steve Belmain is co-author of an influential paper recently published in the Nature journal, Scientific Data. The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa’s major land uses...