In this project we will support individuals and organisations across the food system to develop their knowledge of resilience. Producers, processors, manufacturers, retailers, policy makers and consumers will all have to change their practices and behaviours if we are to achieve a more resilient food system. Yet both trade-offs and tensions between these actors can easily arise. For example, forms of farming that can better withstand extreme weather events do not necessarily support the health and wellbeing of consumers, and may struggle to supply the volumes or quality standards demanded by robust global supply chains. To start to unpick this complexity, we will investigate the nature of resilience and how it can be promoted in three components of the food system: on farm; in the supply chain; and among consumers. We will employ information technology to secure access to data that enables actors across the food system to gain the knowledge required to respond and adapt to emerging socio-economic and environmental change. Importantly, we will also go further, and look to develop a unifying understanding of 'food system resilience', complemented by tools and methods that can integrate the knowledge and perspectives of hitherto disparate food system actors. Through integrating knowledge, our aim is to remove some of the significant disconnects between various actors in the food system. In three areas of focus, we will: 1) Work with farmers, scientists and engineers, to reform processes of technology development so that farmers' existing knowledge of farm resilience, embedded in their understanding of their soils, seeds and breeds, can be supported and expanded through the application of novel, low cost sensor and imaging technologies 2) Work with food processors, distributors and retailers, to undertake an integrated analysis of food commodity supply data and the political economy of production, consumption and trade, to identify contexts in which resilience can be supported within the distribution and supply system 3) Work with consumers through engagement with individuals and with population data, to better understand the drivers of consumer choice within and between socioeconomic groups, and the consequences for public health resilience. By better understanding resilience in these three areas, we will develop decision support tools that draw on data from across the food system to identify and encourage complementarities - and minimise conflicts - between the choices and actions taken by different actors in the food system. To achieve this, we will translate existing agricultural sensors and engineering technology platforms to address the specific needs for the 'right data at the right time, in the right location and at the right cost', to reduce vulnerability increase resilience across the food system. In particular, we will: 1) Deepen understanding of the food system and how stakeholders differ in their ability to respond to crises and stresses within international food supply chains 2) Investigate how structures, institutions and information can support individuals, communities and organisations to think and act in response to different types of change that emerge within the complexity of the global food system 3) Explore how new forms of data, mobile technologies, institutional models and incentive frameworks can shape information flows and behaviour, enabling researchers, technologists and food system stakeholder resolve and respond in a timely fashion to pressures facing food consumption, production and trade 4) Provide a new model of food system resilience that sets an agenda for future interdisciplinary research and defines policy objectives for a resilient UK food system.

Our GCRF TRADE Hub addresses a global challenge that has led to dramatic decline in biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in the past century, and if not addressed will significantly imperil the development of lower income nations. Trade in wildlife and agricultural commodities from low and middle income to higher income countries has increased rapidly over the last decades, and is projected to expand rapidly into the future to meet demands. Although trade is vital for national development, it also can carry heavy environmental and social costs, particularly for poor rural people in DAC countries, mainly because there is a great imbalance of power within the decision-making system and the most affected people are relatively powerless and voiceless in the decision-making process. The development of these trades over the past decades have has also resulted in considerable impacts on natural systems, threatening with extinction thousands of species globally. Addressing the issue of balancing the positives of ever-expanding trade with its costs is essential to addressing several of the SDGs, to protect and promote livelihoods within vulnerable communities in DAC countries, and is important for the UK in terms of negotiating sustainable trade deals that also meet other environmental and social development commitments. The Hub will work on a number of key trade flows that are particularly important to our focal developing countries and the UK, and where we have existing strengths that will allow us to have real impact in the lifetime of the Hub. This will include trade that has a direct impact on biodiversity - for example the global trade in wildlife for a range of uses, including the regional and national trade in wild meat. It will also include agricultural commodity trades that have indirect impacts on biodiversity through conversion or degradation of habitats. Its strong international and interdisciplinary research team, including economists, trade modellers, political scientists, ecologists and development scientists, will produce novel, impact-orientated research. Through involving companies, UN-related trade bodies and governments, the project will be embedded in the needs of the economy and development at large. We have ten work packages: During the project design phase WP0 will further elaborate a detailed theory of change and mapping exercise leading to the co-design of the research programme with critical stakeholders (private sector actors, trade organisations and NGOs). This will lead into the delivery of eight interlinked work packages: WP1: Understanding wildlife trade from DAC countries (live animals, skins, non-timber products, wildmeat) at the supply end; volumes and characteristics of local and export trade, and impacts on biodiversity and resource users; WP2: Understanding supply to demand-end agricultural commodity trade pathways, volumes and characteristics, within and exported from DAC countries; WP3: Determining the magnitude and spatial-temporal distribution of social benefits and costs for selected wildlife and commodity supply chains from the supply to demand ends; WP4: Understanding how trade and economic policies impact on wild-sourced and agricultural commodity trades and their impact on people and nature; WP5: Modelling the implementation of different scenarios of trade policy and corporate decision making; WP6: Developing solutions and building capacity through engagement with the private sector (large corporations and investors); WP7: Developing solutions and building capacity, through engaging with trade public sector rule-setting agencies and national policy makers; WP8: Outreach and Technology Solutions. We also have a cross-cutting WP9: building DAC partner capacity to ensure ongoing, sustainable research-led solutions to TRADE's intractable challenge. We involved DAC countries, corporations, investment bodies, and UN-linked trade agencies in the co-design of this Hub from the outset.