Longreads Wageningen University & Research
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We mustn’t ignore the time bomb of climate change and conflict in Africa
07 December 2023 - Longread - People in Africa’s Sahel region are increasingly struggling with the impacts of climate change. There’s an urgent need for agriculture there to adapt to hotter and drier conditions in order to be able to feed a growing population. But conflicts in the region are preventing that from happening. National research institutes in Africa – working in partnership with the Sahel platform run by Wageningen University & Research – say that now is precisely the time to invest in the region. -
Making water pivotal in the design of food systems
06 December 2023 - Longread - Water plays a crucial role in our food systems and food security. Yet, it is insufficiently considered when designing these systems. This paper presents the case to make water pivotal in designing food systems, laying out action perspectives for different actors to move towards what we call ‘water-responsible food systems’. This paper is based on input offered by many actors during workshops and on existing literature. A food systems approach provides an excellent entry point to link food with water considering climate change and energy. Moreover, collective and cross-cutting actions between actors in food systems are essential to make decisive progress, as well as a common language and insight into the trade-offs of the multiple values of water for a clear prioritization of water use and water allocation. -
Living labs are all the rage, but what are the success factors for a sustainable transition?
20 October 2023 - Longread - WUR and other knowledge institutes study sustainable agriculture, production chains and cities. But how does this research make a sector or system more sustainable? Living labs are used to incite transitions. What are living labs, and what are the success factors? A conversation on power, co-creation, trust and reflexive monitoring. -
"Put water at the heart of food systems"
13 October 2023 - Longread - Food and water are inextricably linked. Without water, the world would have nothing to eat. But will there still be enough water for food production in the near future? In the run-up to World Food Day 2023, Wageningen scientists have claimed that it is high time that more attention was paid to the essential role of water in the food system. -
Kooistra inaugurated as Professor of Remote Sensing: 'Working on optimal agricultural systems’
04 October 2023 - Longread - Lammert Kooistra will be inaugurated as a personal professor of Remote Sensing at Wageningen University & Research's Laboratory of Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing on October 5th. Within this broad field, he will focus on optimising agriculture and making it more sustainable. -
Running for climate: ‘Marathon is a metaphor for the climate crisis’
02 October 2023 - Longread - Climate expert Tim ran the Jungfrau marathon in Switzerland with a team of ten other climate scientists on Saturday, 9 September, as a positive way to raise awareness for the urgent need to address the climate crisis. Their message was clear: It’s not too late to run for climate.
If you follow the Rhine from the glacier all the way to the North Sea in the Netherlands, what effects of climate change can you see in and around the river? And what possible solutions are there? Nine questions for climate expert Tim van Hattum. -
Designing backwards helps food industry move forwards
21 September 2023 - Longread - How can a food producer develop a product that is not only tasty, healthy, environmentally friendly and safe but also economically viable? Experts from Wageningen University & Research have set about addressing those questions. The result: a multi-criteria assessment platform based on reverse engineering that lets producers make more informed choices. -
Strip cropping harvest requires more flexibility from food processing companies
24 August 2023 - Longread - Does strip cropping create additional challenges for post-harvest food processing? Scientists from Wageningen Food & Biobased Research investigated three wheat harvests for that purpose. The wheat from strip cropping proved more difficult to clean and separate, but baking tests showed that the flour is on par with commercial varieties when baking bread. -
Unequal trade perpetuates malnutrition – but there is another way
25 July 2023 - Longread - No one in Africa should have to grow up without access to a healthy diet. Yet hunger and malnutrition persist in many areas. Globalisation of the food trade has done nothing to prevent this, and agriculture and food policy are not delivering what they should. This is mainly due to a hundred years of trade dominance by industrialised countries and the dumping of cheap surpluses in Africa, argues Bart de Steenhuijsen Piters. But there is another way. -
‘Water and soil guiding’ calls for a broad perspective
27 June 2023 - Longread - There is currently much ado in the Netherlands about the ‘water and soil guiding’ approach. WUR has been working according to this principle for a while already, But what exactly is it, and what should you do and avoid to successfully implement ‘water and soil guiding’? In this publication, we share our insights and experiences