Zafy lives in a village on edge of the forest in Madagascar. He wants the best for his family and so uses the resources and options he has open to him and clears a patch of forest to grow hill rice. His hard labour pays off and he is able to sell a small surplus. Rakoto farms rice on the valley floor. In good years, when there is plenty of water, he produces more than his family can eat. However as the forest on the slopes continues to be cut, water in the dry season is reduced, and there are fewer and fewer good years. That tropical deforestation threatens species' survival is well known to the general public. There is also increasing awareness that it contributes to climate change (through the release of carbon stored in trees and soils). Zafy's story demonstrates that although cutting down forest is often presented as wanton destruction, it may well be a perfectly sensible choice for the people directly involved. It also shows that some negative impacts of deforestation may be felt locally as well as globally. In recent years a new approach to conserving tropical forests has evolved. The central idea is that those who benefit from the existence of forest should pay those who would otherwise cut it down. This concept is known as payment for ecosystem services and has come to dominate discussions about rainforest conservation. People who support this approach argue that it will benefit poor people like Zafy, who will be compensated for not clearing forest, through cash payments or development activities in their area. In addition, the land-use changes which will be encouraged under the payment schemes (protecting forest or planting new forest) may benefit other poor people in the area; for example Rakoto may benefit from increased forest cover through improved flow of water to his rice fields. Unfortunately nothing is ever as simple as it seems. While these payments for ecosystem services schemes are attracting millions of dollars, and there is a commitment by many involved to ensure they are beneficial for poor people, questions remain both about the impact current schemes are having on the poor and about how these schemes could be designed to realise any potential for alleviating poverty while avoiding harm. These vitally important questions need a research approach which brings together specialists with a range of expertise. Our team involves sociologists, economists, ecologists, hydrologists, remote sensing experts and modellers who will explore the complex ways in which international ecosystem service payments affect the lives of poor people. Specific questions we will address include quantifying the benefits which lowland rice farmers may expect from increasing forest cover, exploring the costs (and who bears them) of reduced access for wild-product harvesting, and investigating how politics and social structures influence how any benefits from payments are distributed. We focus on a single area (the eastern rainforests), in a single country (Madagascar). Such a narrow focus is necessary to get the complete picture which takes account of all the interactions between ecological and social systems. Although we focus field work within Madagascar, and our results will directly influence payment schemes in the country, our project's findings will also have a much wider impact. We are working closely with those involved in developing the policies which underpin payment schemes, and in implementing them on the ground both in Madagascar and worldwide. Our project will result in scientific papers which push the boundaries of interdisciplinary research, and interesting coverage in the media and on our project website. However through this wider engagement our project will also result in concrete changes to the design of payment schemes which should improve the lives of people like Rakoto, Zafy and their families, wherever they live in the world.

Despite the fact that approximately 85% of total agricultural output across the African continent is produced by small-holder farmers, with the small-holder farming sub-sector accounting for 75% of Kenya's total agricultural output, there remains a persistent imagining amongst some academics, policy makers and NGOs that African farming practices are static, inefficient and inherently vulnerable in the face of environmental change and population growth. These ideas have in turn supported a longstanding modernising paradigm whereby African agriculture is argued to require a host of 'new' technical inputs such as mechanisation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and hybrid and GM crops. This process has deep colonial roots and, in the wake of pressing issues surrounding climate change and population growth, has re-emerged in recent calls for a new African Green Revolution. However, this 'modernising' paradigm has failed to deliver sustainable prosperity, suggesting that alternative frameworks are required. By analysing how small-holder farmers in Eastern Africa innovate in daily practice, this project will reconsider why wholesale attempts at modernisation have often failed and, in the process, offer alternative ways toward prosperous rural livelihoods. Working with multisectoral partners currently active in food systems research and delivery, we challenge the 'modernisation' imperative by historicising contemporary farming practices in Kenya and diachronically exploring ongoing processes of innovation and ingenuity that seem to have been characteristic of African farming for centuries, arguing instead that these may offer crucial insights into the future of farming practice in the region. The premise that African farming systems have historically been diverse and highly adaptive draws upon a wealth of archaeological and historical material that demonstrates how they have developed in dynamic ways over several thousand years, continuously diversifying as they became integrated into expansive inter-continental exchange networks with SW Asia, India and China. Such processes continued into the 19th century when, with the formalisation of colonisation, new waves of domesticates and concepts surrounding soil and forest conservation were introduced by 'professional' colonial agricultural officers. Whilst many of these colonial interventions understood African agricultural systems as resistant to change (Anderson 2018; Beinhart 2000), we argue here for a more nuanced narrative wherein small-holders selectively adopted and propagated new ideas, practices, crops and materials (Moore 2018). In this view farmers experiment, generate knowledge, and selectively adopt the ideas of others on a daily basis. We argue that this historic process of creative innovation, selective valuation and intelligent (re-)combination is what constitutes what are often referred to (and often brought into opposition) as both 'tradition' and 'modernity' and that this historical reconceptualization offers an important new starting point for revaluing, supporting and extending farmers capabilities. Working with diverse partners we will co-design original empirical research with small-holder 'digital farmers' in Elgeyo-Marakwet Kenya. We have specifically chosen to work with partners from both the UK and Kenya and from academic, NGO, international and policy sectors so as to share diverse institutional practices and agenda and to co-design and deliver research that will stimulate institutional responses and specific policy recommendations. By working with, challenging, and supporting partners active in food systems research and delivery we aim to have multiple tangible impacts on policy making and farming livelihoods more broadly, thus demonstrating the important value of arts and humanities led multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having substantial consequences on UK and global food and nutrition security (FNS). This project will undertake world-leading research to provide government, business and decision makers with the evidence that they need to develop a robust FNS response to the current pandemic. The pandemic is causing major shocks to the four pillars of FNS: access; availability; utilisation and stability. Examples include reductions in productivity (labour limitations), breakdown of norms of food systems (distribution, changed demand) and supply chain restrictions (e.g. shortages of agri-chemicals for crop management). Economic impacts are altering both supply, distribution and demand. Collectively these shocks are substantially altering food systems whilst in the longer-term normal processes of trade may not adapt appropriately leading to changes in the balance of traded commodities, reduction in food reserves and price increases. The issue of FNS is relevant to all members of society, particularly for those most vulnerable to shortages or price increases. The food sector is also a major part of the UK economy, as it contributes approximately £111 billion a year and accounts for over 13% of national employment. It is the UK's largest manufacturing sector. The project focusses on UK FNS which is heavily dependent on global markets. Nearly half of the food we consume is imported and UK livestock industries rely heavily on imported feed. Some countries have already restricted exports in order to supply home markets. Normal market forces, transportation and distribution networks may no longer be appropriate to provide national requirements. A priority is to understand how to increase capacity for self-reliance to maintain civic stability, a healthy population and to understand the ramifications for third countries. The aim of this study is to conduct an initial rapid FNS risk assessment and explore options for changes in agricultural production, trade and distribution to protect FNS without jeopardising wider ecological and climate goals. The Research Programme will deliver seven key outputs: 1. Report on rapid risk assessment of the global food system considering how direct and indirect COVID-19 impacts and responses are propagating risks to food and nutrition security. 2. Report on Rapid risk assessment of UK food system responses and vulnerabilities and consequences on access, availability, utilisation and stability. 3. A set of plausible scenarios to explore the cascading risks and consequences of pandemic impacts on food sand nutrition security. 4. Report on alternative land use and management options that will increase resilience. 5. Report and maps of the spatial assessment of the alternative land use and management options. 6. Report including infographics reviewing lessons learned from the pandemic to improve Food and Nutrition Security. 7. Two workshops and other dissemination events and report with recommendations. The knowledge and foresight generated will be applicable to and of value across multiple sectors of the economy. It will inform policy support and development within UK and devolved Governments and help industry and business make informed decisions and plan adaptations. Information generated will support the UK's strong position in global trade. Identifying data gaps now will enable improved monitoring of impacts, both at UK and global scales.

Climate change and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are complex challenges that pose significant threats to society. The triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and impacts on biodiversity, highlighted by the UN, are likely to impact AMR emergence and transmission. It is essential to account for the social, cultural and physical environments of AMR, including the impacts of climate change. Increasing temperatures and changing patterns of rainfall will affect AMR evolution and transmission, patterns of migration, and will change food production, land use and freshwater use. Conversely, antimicrobials may impact microbial geochemical cycling, such as nitrogen cycling in soils and methane production in ruminant microbiomes. These interactions raise the intriguing possibility that a bidirectional relationship exists between climate change and AMR. The Climate AMR Network (CLIMAR) will examine the relationship between climate change and AMR via a Planetary Health framework that examines AMR in terms of planetary boundaries within which humans and ecosystems can continue to develop and thrive. Network themes will include climate change, novel chemical and biological entities (including antimicrobials and AMR bacteria), impacts on microbial biodiversity, land system changes and freshwater use, all of which have mechanistic links with AMR. This Planetary Health framing builds on the One Health approach (which interweaves the health of humans, non-human animals and environments) by adding additional layers of mechanistic understanding, urgency, social dimensions and intergenerational justice, whilst also providing a transdisciplinary framework based on five Planetary Health pillars: (1) interconnection within Nature, (2) the Anthropocene and health, (3) equity and social justice, (4) movement building and systems change, and (5) systems thinking and complexity. These five Pillars will inform our activities including white paper production and research projects by focusing on key knowledge gaps in AMR, climate change and their intersection. These objectives will be informed by an initial systems mapping exercise that will identify the relationships between climate change and AMR, facilitating calibration of network objectives and incorporating input from members joining post-award. It will be necessary to ensure that CLIMAR network activities complement, rather than replicate, planned activities in all other funded networks. We aim to integrate this consideration into this network's activities from its inception. Additionally, professional communications expertise in combination with specialisation in policy development will ensure real impact and change results from network activities. Bringing a Planetary Health perspective to AMR, with a specific focus on interactions with climate change, provides an opportunity to develop AMR narratives beyond a One Health framing. The latter recognises the linkages between "human health", "animal health" and "environmental health" but does not fully convey the fundamental contribution of planetary processes or social determinants, encapsulated by the planetary boundaries and transdisciplinary pillars, to the mental models that facilitate reasoning and decision making. If we aspire to achieve transdisciplinary solutions and interventions, and to reduce AMR infections whilst promoting drug discovery and innovation of alternatives to stay one step ahead of AMR, we need evidence to support decision making as well as compelling narratives to facilitate understanding and encourage action; recognising that solutions may be found in domains that are traditionally outside the interests of AMR researchers.

Poorly planned cities in developing countries create dangerous traffic environments and traffic congestion is growing in many of these rapidly growing conurbations. There is a need for plans and policies that ensure a more equitable appropriation of space for different types of travel modes, from the standpoint of equity, accessibility, safety and environmental protection. Inclusive travel options to allow access within cities to education, healthcare and employment is a critical component of sustainable urbanization; however, of the annual 1.25 million road traffic fatalities globally, 90% are in low and middle-income countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Africa has the joint highest road crash fatality rate of all global regions and transport-related deaths are growing and overtaking some major diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy, hepatitis and malaria. Over half of all fatalities are among vulnerable groups (e.g. pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users) and death and injury burdens are heavily skewed towards lower income groups. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for inclusive and sustainable urbanization including increasing the capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management. There is a specific request for improving road safety incorporating local level planning reform to ensure clean and safe mobility within urban systems. Creative methods (e.g. the use of arts interventions, including drama, participatory map making, storytelling, creative writing, photography, etc.) have a particular contribution to make in revealing vulnerable peoples' needs and desires for urban mobility. They have demonstrated value in effectively communicating these needs between stakeholders addressing the need for inclusion in planning processes irrespective of age, gender, religion, origin or economic status. The arts and humanities have a role to play in bringing forward new viewpoints and generating novel solutions by providing a discussion space to explore these key issues. Sometimes providing a counterpoint or challenge to existing bureaucratic and technical knowledge and power processes. This project will build a network of UK arts and humanities academics with their counterparts from East Africa alongside local urban planners, designers, NGOs, civil society groups and urban decision makers. The UK participants have experience of a range of creative approaches used to reveal different groups problems (in relation to mobility and travel); but methods that are also useful in helping identify novel solutions co-designed with these groups themselves. The network will identify how these approaches could be developed and used in East Africa to help address issues around sustainable travel options for all residents of the regions rapidly growing cities contributing to the delivery of the SDGs.