Research for sustainable development

As part of the process of developing our strategy for development research, we held an event to share our research partnerships, ideas and findings. View the posters and videos.

A small minority of UN peacekeepers and aid workers abuse the people they are sent to serve and protect but in the complex legal space of conflict zones they are rarely held to account for their actions. An international network of academics and civil society practitioners has developed an evidence-based solution that can be adapted and implemented in all peacekeeping entities in a context-specific manner in order to end impunity for peacekeepers who carry out sexual violence.

A major research project has shown that the fibrous pods from cocoa beans could be transformed from a worthless by-product to healthier food ingredients, industrial chemicals and biofuels, giving Indonesian farmers a more stable future. The project is being carried out by the universities of Reading, York and St Andrews in collaboration with Mars Inc and the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute.

Soil health in West Africa, where the majority of the world’s cocoa is grown, is deteriorating fast. Cocoa farmers’ answer to this problem is to clear virgin forests to access better soil. Creating compost from cocoa farm waste could offer a tidy solution to improve soils, reduce deforestation and maintain the livelihoods of the farmers behind the chocolate we all enjoy. 

In India, nearly half a million people die each year from lung disease caused by pollution from domestic solid fuel cookstoves. Reading chemists are carrying out materials research to convert the excess heat from these stoves to electricity, via affordable thermoelectric devices. This will power fans to make the stoves cleaner and more efficient, as well as bringing electricity for the first time to millions of people living in remote rural areas.

India’s juicy, yellow mangoes are among the country’s many economically important and nutritious fruit crops – but little is known about the insects which pollinate them. By growing flowers or other crops which boost the diversity and numbers of pollinators, subsistence farmers could enjoy better yields and higher profits. Reading’s Dr Deepa Senapathi is working with mango and moringa farmers in Tamil Nadu to introduce more sustainable farming practices, that have been tried and tested in the European Union. 

Worldwide, millions of species face extinction due to human destruction of wild habitats, intensive farming and the global trade in wildlife. Trade is needed for national development but can come at a huge social and environmental cost. A five-year collaborative research project involving important players in global trade, from industry to NGOs, will unpick this complex issue from all angles. They plan to find solutions to alleviate poverty and enhance trade without reducing biodiversity.

Venomous snakebites kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, mainly in rural areas. A Reading pharmacologist working on snake venoms has led a public awareness campaign in rural Tamil Nadu to warn of the dangers of snakebites, how to identify dangerous snakes, and what to do if bitten. The campaign, which involves NGOs, schools and colleges and a major hospital in India, has reached over 200,000 people and a further 3 million online. Scaling it up globally could save thousands of lives and livelihoods.

Millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa rely on sweet potatoes for food. They’re the main source of vitamin A in this region, deficiency of which causes blindness and other health problems.  Reading climate and crop scientists are modelling different scenarios for the impact of climate change on sweet potato crops in Uganda to help policymakers with long-term agricultural planning. 

Many people living in Asian countries are exposed to severe air pollution, but depending on their age, gender and circumstances, some have to endure more than others. The elderly, for example, are exposed to greater indoor pollution from stoves because they spend more time at home. Built Environment specialist Dr Vincent Luo is investigating inequalities in exposure to air pollution in North-east China. With the data collected, he and colleagues will design simple, low-cost solutions to the problem.

Coca leaves have been grown and consumed in the Andes for millennia, only relatively recently being refined to produce cocaine. In Peru, government policy to counter the illegal drugs trade is to destroy crops and lock up farmers, while Bolivia has taken a more measured approach.  A Reading-led project is analysing the coca trade in both countries to come up with policy ideas that encourage economic development and lessen dependence on the illegal drugs trade.