N8 AGRIFOOD

The eight most research-intensive universities in the north of England collaborated to tackle the biggest global challenges to provide a sustainable, resilient, and healthy food supply for society as a whole.

Pea crops at a farm in South East England, cultivated with basalt
Pea crops at a farm in South East England, cultivated with basalt
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The N8 AgriFood £16 million research programme funded by HEFCE brings together farmers, the government and leading academics to tackle the biggest global challenges to provide a sustainable, resilient and healthy food supply for society as a whole.

The programme is led by the N8 Research Partnership, which is a collaboration of the eight most research-intensive universities in the north of England: Sheffield, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and York.

The partnership brings together the greatest concentration of academics engaged in agri-food research in the UK with 370 researchers and £269 million of research funding. AREC is a major contributor to this partnership because of its expertise in agri-tech and supply chain analysis.

By integrating understanding of food supply networks from food production and supply through to consumption and nutrition, it is possible to develop practices for the UK’s food supply networks that can help address global food security issues.

Staff involved

External members

  • Professor Deb Smith
  • Professor Katherine Denby
  • Professor Les Firbank
  • Professor Jason Halford
  • Professor Mark Reed
  • Professor Duncan Cameron
  • Professor David Oglethorpe

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.