Generating private-sector engagement for nutrition via investment and innovation.

9 July 2025. A UK university lab dedicated to exploring food and nutrition insecurity has found that if no climate action is taken, heatwave events may cause global food insecurity to rise by 12.8 percentage points.

This was one of the findings from a food (in)security lab established by the Grantham Research Institute (GRI) on Climate Change and the Environment at the UK’s London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

The GRI examined Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Sub-Saharan Africa to understand the practical applications needed to enhance security in food and nutrition.

• Egypt’s food industry is characterised by a high reliance on imports, which, for example, account for more than 60% of the country’s wheat consumption. Due to its non-domestic dependence, Egypt is vulnerable to shocks and crises relating to climate change and weather disruption throughout global supply chains.
• The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia are also facing the triple burden of malnutrition, which includes overnutrition, undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies.
• In Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, the lab is conducting research to combat nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions among adolescent girls and young mothers. The project is developing scientific approaches and strategies designed to enhance dietary diversity and micronutrient intake using fortified foods, supplements, and nutrition education. It also aims to improve resilience and lower intergenerational cycles of malnutrition.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the GRI is undertaking a project geared at generating private-sector engagement for nutrition via investment and innovation. It seeks to help businesses develop and scale affordable and nutritious food items.