9
June 4, 2024   •   News

Closing Date: 17 June 2024
Location: Ireland

The School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast is currently seeking to appoint an exceptional candidate to the post of Research Fellow. The appointee will join the Huws group, focused on sustainable livestock production using the disciplines of Microbiology, Animal Science, and Bioinformatics.

For more information click HERE.

May 31, 2024   •   News

Funding has been made available to enable researchers from New Zealand to take part. The 2024 Green ERA-Hub Call is developed by the partners of the ERA-Hub Call in collaboration with the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) and the Wheat initiative. The overall objective of this 2024 joint international funding Call is to advance the climate smart farming for climate change adaptation, resilience to stresses, and crop and livestock health, in a context of the economic sustainability of farming.

May 24, 2024   •   News

24 May 2024 (GMT +13)

The GRA Agricultural Inventory Training Programme (GRAIT) streamlines current agricultural inventory capacity building initiatives under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement.

It achieves this through leveraging the GRA’s collaborative ethos across its network of member countries, partner organisations, scientists and policy personnel. It is a coordination initiative that aims to accelerate the development of robust agricultural inventory systems in developing countries by:

• Providing readily accessible information on past, present and future agricultural GHG inventory capability building programmes so that new training programmes are built on existing work,
• Encouraging greater funder-funder collaboration when developing and delivering new training initiatives, and
• Providing a platform to identify and promote new funding and training opportunities.

We welcome you to join us in person or online for the launch of GRAIT on 24 May. Please see the attached agenda which also includes the link to join in online HERE.

May 24, 2024   •   News

WEBINAR: FOOD SAFETY IMPLICATIONS FROM THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INHIBITORS IN AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS

Experts discuss the food safety implications of environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems

The webinar Food safety implications from the use of environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems, hosted by FAO, took place on 10 May 2024. The event aimed to stimulate discussion on the food safety aspects that need to be considered and addressed when using environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems.

Find out more and watch the recording HERE.

May 21, 2024   •   News

The May 2024 issue of Who’s Counting, the Inventories and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Network Newsletter is now available to view HERE.

Who’s Counting summarises scientific progress, opportunities, resources and events related to national agriculture inventory development, national agriculture climate targets, and international inventory capability-building activities.


We encourage you to directly submit content for the next Issue of Who’s Count

May 17, 2024   •   News

Please note the deadline for all the attached opportunities is May 19, 2024, at 11:59 pm.

Please take a look at the attachment describing some opportunities for consultancies in the areas of GHG inventories, NDCs, and MRV systems.

May 2, 2024   •   News

Location: Ireland
Post Duration: 24 months

Project: Neonatal dietary interventions to reduce enteric methane emissions (NeoDREMES)

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral research fellow position in the UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science. The position aims to evaluate the effectiveness of maternal dietary interventions in ewes to alter early life microbial development in the lambs.

UCD Lyons Farm – YouTube link

April 24, 2024   •   News

Addressing climate change and protecting the environment are among the greatest challenges of our time, and food loss and waste (FLW) is a major contributor to both issues. A workshop on “Food Loss and Waste Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa” was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 17-18 April 2024.

The workshop which brought together active food loss and waste stakeholders from across SSA discussed regional context and circumstances for action on food loss and waste prevention, including the challenges and options for action at policy and practice level.

The two-day workshop was jointly organized by the Thünen Institute (Germany), the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (New Zealand), the UN Sustainable Development Solution Network (France) and the University of Nairobi (Kenya).

New Zealand, through the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) supported the workshop and was represented by Dr Ackim Mwape from the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC).  Dr Mwape delivered a keynote address during the opening of the workshop where he emphasized the need to quantify the magnitude, composition, and geographical location of lost and discarded foods.  He stressed that:

“Enhanced knowledge and awareness of where along the food chain, for which foods, and in which countries, the greatest food losses are produced, is essential to decide where and how to target prevention efforts in the most effective way”.

The outcome of the workshop was a convergence of three overarching challenges and priorities across the region:

  • Quantifying and tracking of FLW at all stages of the food supply chain.
  • Commitment to report FLW by all actors in the food chain, addressing existing data gaps.
  • Awareness and education of the population on FLW prevention
April 19, 2024   •   News

The CFS Network have recently published a policy brief on assessing and improving Nitrogen cycling in agricultural production with examples from Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. Check it out HERE or by clicking on the image below.

April 18, 2024   •   News

Closing Date: 30 April 2024, 5 pm (NZST)

Location: New Zealand

The New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC), in partnership with New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has launched a multi-year scholarship and fellowship programme. The programme will be open to those working on projects focused on reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

The programme provides funding for up to five PhD students (up to three years) and up to four post-doctoral researchers (up to two years) to contribute to New Zealand-based research programmes targeting a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

The programme funding covers stipend and tuition fees (PhD), or salary and research costs/overheads (Post-doctoral). For more details including eligibility & funding details please see: https://www.nzagrc.org.nz/domestic/capacity-development/early-career-researcher-funding

Step 1 of the process for awarding the scholarships/fellowships is an open call for New Zealand based research projects that would be suitable for hosting either a PhD student or post-doctoral fellow. The call is open from 8 April to 30 April 2024.

 If you have a project which you think would be a good fit, please complete the application form at https://www.nzagrc.org.nz/domestic/capacity-development/early-career-researcher-funding and submit to [email protected] before 5pm, 30 April 2024.

Once the successful projects have been selected, the NZAGRC will facilitate an applicant selection process, including advertising for applicants, short-listing, and working with host organisations to interview and select preferred applicants.

April 18, 2024   •   News

This third call is open for submission of proposals until 6 June 2024.


On 10 April 2024, the third and final Call under the pilot Joint Research Initiative between Ireland and New Zealand was launched by Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). The pilot Joint Research initiative was launched by DAFM and MPI in 2022, following the signing of a Memorandum of Arrangement between both organizations in May 2022. This provided for the establishment a 3-year pilot Joint Research Initiative (JRI) over the period 2022 to 2024 in recognition of the strong existing research connections and the common challenges facing the agri-food sectors in both Ireland and New Zealand. Over €14 million in joint funding was awarded to eight research projects from 2022 and 2023 Call.

Ireland press release,

New Zealand press release


2024 Ireland – New Zealand Joint Research Call

The 2024 Joint Research Call between Ireland and New Zealand opened on 10 April 2024 and invites eligible Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) from Ireland to submit joint research proposals, with collaborating partners from New Zealand.

There are four research topics in the Call:

  • Topic 1: Refinement of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions inventories through the development of emission factors for methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.
  • Topic 2: Development and assessment of technologies, including Methane and Nitrogen inhibitors, for the mitigation of GHGs from ruminant systems.
  • Topic 3: Data and digitalisation, including the standardisation of methodologies, to support climate-related action and management practices in agriculture.

Two webinars for applicants will be held jointly by DAFM and MPI for interested Irish and New Zealand researchers to provide an overview about all relevant aspects of the Call and provide time to answer open questions. These will be held on:

  • 30th April 2024 at 10:00 NZT (webinar hosted by MPI for New Zealand applicants –  register here )
  • 25th April 2024 at 10:00 IST (webinar hosted by DAFM for Irish applicants – register here)

Call Timeline

The Joint Research Call follows a one-stage submission procedure with a deadline for the submission of full proposals on 6th June 2024 . Indicative Research Call timelines are outlined below.

10 April 2024Launch of the Joint Research Call
30th April 2024 at 10:00 NZTWebinar for potential applicants
25th April 2024 at 10:00 ISTWebinar for potential applicants
6th June 2024 @17:00 ISTSubmission Deadline for proposals
September 2024Communication of Funding Decision
October/November 2024Funding awarded and announcement of successful projects
January 2025 to March 2025Estimated Starting Date for Funded Projects

April 15, 2024   •   News

Deadline for applications: 28 April 2024
Organisation: Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola (College of Agricultural Engineering), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil

In 2018, Law 16.684/2018 was approved in Brazil, establishing the State Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production (Peapo) in the state of São Paulo, followed by the participatory development of the State Plan on Agroecology and Organic Production (Pleapo) in 2022. Through a partnership between researchers, public officials, and representatives of civil society, this project aims to support the implementation of Peapo and Pleapo through participation and the establishment of territorial governance structures. This project has received approval under the FAPESP process number 2023/10150-1 and is supported by the Public Policy Research Program (PPPP) in Brazil.

Title of the project: State Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production (Peapo) and State Plan on Agroecology and Organic Production (Pleapo) of the state of São Paulo: implementation and territorial governance
Principal Investigator: Vanilde Ferreira de Souza Esquerdo
Email for applications: [email protected]
Knowledge area: Agronomy
Deadline for applications: April 28, 2024
Start of the fellowship: May 2024
Area of operation: Rural Extension

To download the call and to see more information please click HERE.