小鸟酱专题 is a global academic hub for the Sustainable Development Goals, which form a key cross-cutting theme of its The Empowerment University strategic plan.
Our 2024 report on all 17 SDGs will show what work the university has been doing through research and engagement in helping to meet those targets and raising awareness of the progress towards the 2030 aims.
Our reports start with the United Nations’ verdict on progress from their 2024 report on SDG 2 Zero Hunger.
UN PROGRESS REPORT ON SDG 2 in 2024
Progress in SDG 2 is one of the worst across the SDGs with more than 50% of targets having regressed since 2015 and a further 15% stagnating. Around 20% of the aims should though be met by 2030 with a further 15% showing moderate progress.
Global hunger and food insecurity remained persistently high and almost unchanged for three years after the Covid pandemic. In 2023, about 733 million people faced hunger, and 2.33 billion people experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. Despite progress, 148 million children under age 5 suffered from stunting in 2022. If current trends persist, one in five children under age 5 will be affected by stunting in 2030.
小鸟酱专题 NEWS ON SDG 2 in 2024
小鸟酱专题 using AI to aid crop production and help farmers boost income
RESEARCHERS are helping farmers to predict and prevent problems with their crops using augmented AI technology.
小鸟酱专题 Leicester (小鸟酱专题) is working with partner university EAFIT in Colombia to apply risk and machine learning concepts to improve crops’ environmental and financial sustainability, preventing vast plant crops being lost to disease.
Work is led by Professor Juan Alejandro Peña Palacio, a visiting researcher at 小鸟酱专题, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, in collaboration with Professor Mario Gongora, Professor in Applied Intelligent Systems at 小鸟酱专题.
Disgust factor needs to be overcome before people will eat insects, survey finds
The research, which explores eating insects as an option in the drive for more sustainable food production, was presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Venice this week.
Co-author Dr Maxine Sharps of 小鸟酱专题’s Psychology team, said: “We know the problems which eating meat contributes to damaging the environment and insects are high protein, low fat and easy to farm. In some parts of the world, eating insects is common but we wanted to see how people felt about it in the UK.”
The team came up with a survey which polled 603 UK adults. It asks questions about their age, gender, ethnicity and education level as well as their level of concern about the environment.
How 小鸟酱专题 research is helping farmers cut pesticide use
Researchers have created an algorithm which can analyse images taken by low-altitude drones of the plants to spot signs of disease, allowing faster and more accurate diagnosis.
The programme is also able to predict how the problem spreads throughout the field, helping show where the issue may show up next and allowing the farmer to target treatment rather than using insecticides or pesticides on the whole plantation.
小鸟酱专题’s Professor Mario Gongora is working with colleagues at two universities in Colombia on the project, the early stages of which were funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Council.
International cookbook raises money and awareness of SDGs
STUDENTS and staff have produced an international cookbook to help raise funds and increase awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at 小鸟酱专题.
A total of £414.20 was raised for the United Nations World Food Programme through cookbook sales and other activities, and also supported the Leicester South Foodbank, all aligning with addressing hunger and food security globally (SDG 2) and efforts to reduce inequalities (SDG 10).
Students from the faculty of Business and Law at 小鸟酱专题 came up with a variety of delicious dishes for the launch of the International Student Cookbook.
小鸟酱专题 RESEARCH ON SDG 2 in 2024
Farmers’ perceived effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship to preparedness and risk perception (Emmanouil Tyllianakis et al)
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across the agri-food sector was significant and pervasive, challenging farmers' resilience through multiple disruptions to the supply chain. To support forward planning in face to future shocks, this research examines the perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by farmers themselves, providing insights from the UK.
Results indicate that perceptions of both the severity of the COVID-19 impacts and preparedness for such impacts in the future, were scaled down as the pandemic evolved. Findings suggest that a farmer feeling more prepared in the present to withstand shocks is positively influenced by them perceiving the impact of COVID-19's in their business as severe.
Government support moving forward should focus on strengthening and, perhaps, re-imagining the whole supply industry and re-defining the role of farmers as more than food producers, but also as stewards of climate and food resilience.
A systems approach in the prevention of undernutrition among children under five in Tanzania: Perspectives from key stakeholders (Gasto et al)
Undernutrition among under-fives is one of the major public health challenges in Tanzania. This study aimed at exploring participants’ experiential views regarding developing culturally sensitive strategies for the elimination of child undernutrition for under-fives.
This study revealed that administrative systems should prioritize nutrition interventions in their plans, allocating adequate resources to implement culturally sensitive nutrition interventions, while national-level organs need to strengthen institutional capacity and ensure the availability of funds, skilled human resources and a legal framework for the effective implementation and sustainability of nutrition interventions at the district and lower-levels. This study highlights that for the successful implementation of culturally sensitive strategies towards the elimination of child undernutrition.
Research on tomato disease image recognition method based on DeiT (Changxia Sun et al)
Tomatoes, globally cultivated and economically significant, play an essential role in both commerce and diet. However, the frequent occurrence of diseases severely affects both yield and quality, posing substantial challenges to agricultural production worldwide. In China, where tomato cultivation is carried out on a large scale, disease prevention and identification are increasingly critical for enhancing yield, ensuring food safety, and advancing sustainable agricultural practices.
Utilizing the improved DeiT model, a comprehensive tomato disease recognition system was developed, featuring modules for image collection, disease detection, and information display. This system facilitates an integrated process from image collection to intelligent disease analysis, enabling agricultural workers to promptly understand and respond to disease occurrences.
SDG 2 Zero Hunger