Announcing our new AFN Network+ Champions
The AFN Network+ is excited to introduce our new Year Three Champions. The Champions bring a wealth of expertise from across the agri-food sector, with an emphasis on policy, technology & innovation, agricultural economy and nutrition. As we enter our final year the importance of identifying and communicating alternative plausible pathways to a net zero 2050 under different social, economic and trading contexts is coming further into focus and the themes that each Champion will be concentrating on reflects this.
Our Champions play a key role in our mission to identify the research and policy innovation required to drive the food system transformation that will underpin the UK’s transition to net zero by 2050. Drawing on their expertise and knowledge, they will:
- Run engagement activities centred around their respective themes, building on existing AFN research and outputs and the work of previous AFN Champions.
- Crucially they will help synthesise ideas and thinking from across the AFN and the wider stakeholder community to ensure inclusive input in defining plausible pathways to net zero, through agri-food.
- Identify the research priorities and policy innovation required to deliver a food system that is sustainable, economically viable, socially just, and secure.
“Transitioning UK agri-food for net zero is a critical challenge. With such a diverse range of expertise, our new Champions are uniquely positioned to help us address this task. As we enter the final year of the AFN Network+, we look forward to working with them to develop a clear roadmap to net zero and to identify the research and policy gaps holding us back.”
Our Year Three Champions will work alongside our Year Two cohort (as they continue to support us into the new year) building on the brilliant work that they have been undertaking with us over the course of 2024.
Year Three Champions:
Ifeyinwa Kanu
Bioeconomy Champion
Ifeyinwa has a love of nature and is passionate about engineering solutions to address global challenges such as food system sustainability. She holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering with research interest in the use of Artificial Intelligence and Omics analysis to optimise anaerobic processes.
As the Founder and CEO of IntelliDigest Ltd, Ifeyinwa leads IntelliDigest on a mission to empower food system sustainability through technology innovation and capacity building, thereby delivering access to good food for more people; improving health and restoring the environment. Work includes applying cutting edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, enzyme engineering, green chemistry, blockchain and quantum computing to make the food system more sustainable by eliminating edible food waste and converting inedible food waste at the earliest possible time to bio-nutrients and sustainable chemicals for the food system.
Zainab Oyetunde-Usman
Carbon Financing Champion
Zainab is a Research Social Scientist at Rothamsted Research Net Zero and Resilient Farming Department. She is a trained agricultural economist with experience in applying behavioural approaches to designing and fostering mechanisms to incentivise adoption of net zero innovations. She is involved in interdisciplinary research engagement co-developing pathways to achieving net-zero with stakeholders across the UK agri-food systems. Zainab has over time engaged with the AFN Network+ as an ECR member and a scoping study project lead.
Ali Morpeth
Policy Champion, Food Systems, Nutrition and Health
Ali Morpeth is a Registered Public Health Nutritionist (RNutr) working at the intersection of health and sustainability. For the last 15 years, she has worked on policy change that delivers win-win for people and planet.
Ali is passionate about the opportunities that arise from drawing the dots between health and sustainability, and believes we can address the failings of the food system faster and smarter by working across these disciplines. She recognises that what we eat, and the way food is produced, is driving interrelated crises – to public health, climate and nature. To truly make a lasting impact on human and planetary health, Ali advocates for bold, comprehensive policy actions that reshape the food system.
Emily Norton
Policy Champion, Land, Agriculture and Carbon
Emily has 25 years’ experience in the food and farming sector. She originally qualified as a lawyer before undertaking an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture. Her career has taken her from family business to global PLC, with time spent in Brussels and across the UK. Emily is the founder of Farm Foresight Ltd, a strategic advisory service for the land management sector, working with farmers, investors, politicians and businesses on rural policy and emerging trends. She has expertise in natural capital influences on land, food and farming. Emily holds non-executive board positions at Soil Association Exchange, the Environmental Markets Board and for the Duchy of Cornwall. She is a member of the national policy committee of the Country Land and Business Association and is a trustee at the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association. She writes a regular opinion column in the Farmers Weekly and lives and farms in Norfolk.
Elta Smith
Policy Champion, Impact & Synthesis
Elta Smith is an independent researcher, writer and consultant. She is an experienced leader in making better policies for our food systems. Her research focuses on the intersection of food, the environment and human health. She has directed and managed studies for UK, EU and international organisations covering issues not only from ‘farm to fork’, but from ‘lab to fork’, particularly the role of science and technology in transforming the food chain.
Elta is a trustee of the Food Ethics Council. She was formerly Director of the Innovation, Health and Science Group at RAND Europe; prior to that she led the food chain policy team within the Climate, Environment and Food practice at ICF International.
We’ll be announcing details of our Just Transition & Citizen Engagement Champion soon.
More on the themes:
A major focus of our Year Three Champions will be to support the development and delivery of the AFN roadmap, setting out plausible pathways to net zero through agri-food, and the research and policy frameworks required to unlock progress. They will work collaboratively to review the work and outputs of the AFN Network+, including that of the Year 1 and Year 2 Champions and the two rounds of commissioned Scoping Studies, to help develop and increase traction around key insights and priorities for research, policy and practice. Champions will focus on helping convert insights and outputs from Network activities into clear messages and tangible impact.
What policy frameworks are required for food system transformation? This theme focuses on the policy instruments that will be most effective in driving positive change in decarbonising the agri-food system, from production, through supply chain, to consumption, while also seeking to maximise co-benefits for biodiversity and human health. Our Policy Champions will work to support discussions with key policy-making bodies (government departments across the UK; other public agencies; commercial and industry bodies; key non-governmental organisations; and other major research initiatives such as, for example, the LUNZ Hub) about the principal policy insights emerging from the work of the AFN Network+.
How can increasing circularity in agricultural production, supply chain and consumption contribute to decarbonisation of the food system? This theme focuses on how innovation for circular bioeconomies in agri-food, including the valorisation of agricultural, supply chain and household waste for energy, fertiliser and alternative protein production, nutrient recovery and slurry management can reduce net emissions from the food system. Our Bioeconomy Champion will scan recent developments in circular bioeconomy to develop policy and research priorities to feed into the AFN roadmap.
How can carbon markets and carbon pricing contribute to emissions reduction in agri-food? This theme focuses on defining workable frameworks for public and private financing of carbon sequestration through land management and for the development of carbon pricing in the context of agri-food. Our Carbon Financing Champion will explore the data and regulatory systems required to make carbon markets and carbon pricing effective mechanisms to drive positive change in the agri-food system, including how carbon costs can be shared across the supply chain, from producers, to processors, retailers and ultimately consumers.
How can we ensure that the critical issues of social justice, equity, and access to healthy and sustainable food are integral to the agri-food system transition to a net zero UK by 2050? This theme focuses on the mechanisms for embedding the voices of those with lived experience into the policy-making process. Our Just Transition and Citizen Engagement Champion will also help increase public support of the Network’s recommendations by better understanding citizens’ opinions and by increasing awareness of the reasoning behind the recommendations.
