Riddet Institute maths modellers have received significant Gates Foundation funding to future proof Kenyan food supply. Image: International Livestock Research Institute.
The Riddet Institute’s Sustainable Nutrition Initiative (SNi®), hosted at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in Palmerston North, will receive more than US$2 million (NZ$3.4 million) from the Gates Foundation in a three-year contract to develop an interactive food system scenario model for Kenya.
The funding commences in February 2025 and looks towards a Kenya of the future that can provide its people with access to safe, affordable and nutritious diets year-round, despite environmental or economic pressures.
Project leader Professor Warren McNabb says the contract is the result of years of work and reflects the expertise of the SNi® team.
“It’s about feeding people the nutrients they require. The model will look at the foods that can be produced on the land that they have, complemented by the food they can import, to result in a nutrient flow to Kenyans that provides adequate nutrition.”
He says the computational model will build upon existing successful mathematical models, such as the DELTA Model® modelling global food and nutrient supply, and another concerning global trade in nutrients. The team is also working on a $10 million New Zealand sustainable food system model, backed by the Government’s Endeavour Fund.
The Kenya model will be interactive and able to test scenarios, showing the implications of future changes to the food system, enabling high-quality, evidence-based decision-making.
Prof McNabb says the work will help give Kenyan authorities the data to make the right decisions.
As with other modelling scenarios, it will capture the interconnections between agricultural and food production, food trade, human nutrition, environmental impacts and financial consequences.
In future, the model could influence land use policy, food trade policy, public health policy and investment decisions. The Riddet Institute is working with Kenyan-based researchers in the project, who will provide data and local expertise from Kenya.
Acting Director of the Riddet Institute Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan says this is critical work in securing global food security.
“The Gates Foundation is a preeminent philanthropic group working in the area of world food and health security, and for the Foundation to choose to invest in New Zealand science is testament to the excellence of Professor Warren McNabb’s SNI team at the Riddet Institute.”
Forming part of the Riddet Institute, the Sustainable Nutrition Initiative® is a team of researchers who make evidence-based nutrition research accessible to help bring about globally sustainable nutrition.
The Riddet Institute is a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), hosted by Massey University, focusing on human nutrition and food research.
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