Grand Challenges grant secured for food security research

"Leveraging Bottom-up Food Markets to Build Resilience and Decarbonisation in Food Systems: Lessons from London," will run from April 2025 to July 2026. The research team also includes Dr. Liza Griffin (DPU), Dr. Selçuk Çıdık (The Bartlett School for Sustainable Construction), and selected food market stakeholders. 

Building on the Institute for Global Prosperity’s (IGP) work on ‘Food as a Human Right for All’, this project examines how London's bottom-up food markets can serve as "living laboratories" for developing innovative strategies, policies, and practices that enhance food system resilience and decarbonisation. The research is grounded in the premise that food markets—where production, distribution, and consumption intersect—are critical sites for understanding and addressing food insecurity within the context of climate change.

Positioned at the intersection of social resilience and decarbonisation, the project investigates how bottom-up food markets can test and implement solutions for a more sustainable and equitable food system. It is deeply rooted in the principles of food justice, which asserts that access to healthy, sustainable food is a fundamental human right. By addressing food insecurity and the systemic inequalities that underpin it, the research emphasizes community participation and empowerment. 

The team will collaborate with selected food markets and organisations pioneering innovative food security and decarbonisation strategies. Their work will explore links between sustainable farming practices, low-carbon food systems, alternative solutions, and social equity in market access. Using a participatory methods approach, the researchers will engage market actors and policymakers, map existing policies that support resilience and decarbonisation, and identify opportunities for policy and practice improvements that promote sustainable food options. 

The research will unfold in two key phases: 

1. Identifying barriers to adopting low-carbon practices and co-designing adaptive solutions to address equity concerns in market access. 
2. Developing policy recommendations to overcome these barriers, forecasting the impacts of climate change on food systems, identifying vulnerabilities, and proposing alternative strategies. 

This work will leverage advanced data analysis incorporating population growth, climate disruptions, and land-use changes. Ultimately, the project aims to extend insights gained from London to other parts of the UK and selected global regions, supporting the development of a larger research grant to enhance resilience and decarbonisation in food markets worldwide. 

Project Leads

Professor Maurizio Marinelli 
M.Marinelli@ucl.ac.uk 
Institute for Global Prosperity, The Bartlett

Dr Estella Carpi 
E.Carpi@ucl.ac.uk
Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences

Dedication note

Cristobal Diaz Martinez was the designated Research Assistant for this Grand Challenges grant on Food Security, but he suddenly passed away.

All the project output will be dedicated to his memory, his kindness, and his dedication.

Image credit

Unsplash: Annie Spratt