Although manure is a big emitter of greenhouse gases, it is also a valuable resource for farmers. It can be used as an organic fertiliser, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers, which are expensive and emit high quantities of carbon dioxide during production, while increasing soil carbon storage. However, the release of gases from manure during storage reduces the fertility of the manure once it’s applied to the field.

The UKRI Agri-food for Net Zero Network+ (AFN Network+) has awarded more than £200,000 to projects which help address the challenge of reaching net zero through agri-food. The projects include a web app to help farmers forecast greenhouse gas emissions from their manure, a scheme to replace soya with faba beans in chicken feed and […]

How might the world look in 2050, and what sort of UK agri-food system might exist as a result? This report describes four possible futures and what policy planning and research will be needed under each, to move the agri-food system towards a net zero UK.​ The UK Government does not currently have a plan […]

Online, Friday, 27 October 3.30-4.30pm The Black Farmers Market was created as a restorative space in celebration of the cultural and historical communal atmosphere of Brixton. It supports local growers and new businesses, to reach new customers and audiences, and to work with experienced traders and business experts to achieve success. At this online event the […]

The AFN Network+ is recruiting for its Early Career Researchers (ECR) Board. Appointment is for a one-year period, from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. The board will consist of ECRs with interests and expertise from across the food system. We strive to compose a board that is balanced across gender, diversity of food system […]

The AFN Network+ is delighted to announce an experimental rolling flexible fund for UK-based stakeholders to implement activities that support our mission to build a community of practice working towards achieving net zero through the agri-food sector by 2050.  We build collaborative relationships between key actors in the agri-food system, and support farmer and academic projects including on-farm trials […]

Synthetic fertilisers are a significant contributor of greenhouse gases in agriculture, and tackling them is vital. In June Nicholas Pitts from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, India Langley and Lilly Manzoni from LettUs Grow, and Dr Alexandros Stratakos, Associate Professor in Sustainable Agri-Food Production at UWE Bristol, came together at the AFN Network+ Crucible event in Bristol to […]

We are recruiting our next round of Champions for the AFN Network+ ​Are you committed to driving progress towards achieving net zero through the agri-food system by 2050? Do you have expert practice, knowledge and know-how in agri-food? We are looking for six Champions to bring their expertise from industry, academia and the public sector […]

Who better to provide that understanding than the people who are a part of these systems every day, those who live and breathe the realities of our food industry? These are the farmers, manufacturers, innovators, distributors, retailers, restaurateurs, and consumers. Their perspectives, insights, and experiences are invaluable. They are not just stakeholders in our food […]

In June the AFN Network+ ran a two-day Crucible workshop, in which researchers and food stakeholders came together to  develop ideas for projects which support our mission of getting the agri-food sector to net zero.  Projects competed for funding with two Scoping Studies selected as winners. One of those two winning teams was led by […]

Achieving net zero in the agri-food system requires understanding the whole system, including production, supply chains, consumption, waste, land use, governance, economics, trade, and more.  At a workshop in April, led by Professor Robert Costanza, AFN Network+ champion for Systems Interactions in Production, members of the AFN Network+ built a preliminary conceptual systems dynamics model of the […]

We are delighted to announce two exciting new opportunities from the AFN Network+ We invite you to apply for funding to carry out work which supports our mission of reaching net zero through the agri-food sector. The funded projects will involve at least one non-academic food system stakeholder in a meaningful way, and be interdisciplinary […]