Four UCD projects part of €2.2m programme to address global hunger
12 March 2025
Four teams from UCD have received funding for research that focuses on the global issues of hunger and food insecurity.
The research teams will develop a wide range of solutions that can contribute to ending hunger, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture.
A total of €2.2 million of government funding was announced for six teams across various institutions to advance one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Zero Hunger.
The Sustainable Development Goals Challenge is a partnership between Research Ireland and Irish Aid. All six projects will involve international collaborations between research institutes in Ireland and in Irish Aid partner countries.
The UCD teams receiving funding are:
- (opens in a new window)Professor Supriya Garikipati, UCD School Of Politics and International Relations and (opens in a new window)Professor Kevin McDonnell, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science
- Project: EMPOWER-ME - Empowering Malawian Women Farmers through Precision Agriculture and Market E-Linkages
- Goal: Empowering women farmers in Malawi to overcome the unique barriers they face and breakdown gender inequities in agriculture
- (opens in a new window)Dr Catherine Phillips, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science and (opens in a new window)Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, UCD School of Medicine
- Project: AMEN - Personalised mHealth Maternal Nutritional Education for Equitable Nutritional Access and Improved Maternal and Offspring Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Goal: Ensuring that women from marginalised communities in Sub-Saharan Africa can access nutrient-rich meals, improving maternal-child health outcomes through Mobile health (mHealth) interventions
- Dr Adwoa Serwaa Ofori and (opens in a new window)Dr Karen Keaveney, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science
- Project: SANKOFA – ReSilient climate smArt agriculture, iNdigenous Knowledge and traditiOn For sustAinable food production
- Goal: Integrating indigenous knowledge with climate-smart agricultural technologies to build resilience in smallholder farming practices in Malawi
- Dr Quan Le and (opens in a new window)Dr Anh Vu Vo, UCD School of Computer Science
- Project: AiRRVie - AI for Climate Resilient Rice Farming in Vietnam
- Goal: Using AI to help farmers in Vietnam achieve high rice yields while preserving soil and saving water in the context of environmental and climate pressures
Each team will also have the opportunity to compete for an overall prize fund of €1 million for the most competitive team as part of the challenge-based funding programme.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, and Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond TD, announced the funding today.
“Today’s funding announcement reinforces Ireland’s commitment to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Minister Lawless.
“As these projects progress through collaboration with researchers in Irish Aid partner countries, they will work directly with those most impacted by the challenges they are addressing, delivering tangible solutions to significant societal challenges.”
‘Irish Aid’s ongoing partnership with Research Ireland is an important driver of innovative and transformational change,” said Minister Richmond.
“With this challenge focused on the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger, the projects funded today will help us combat chronic hunger, under-nutrition and gender inequality for food systems transformation.”
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
