Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) (360G-Wellcome-205212_B_16_Z)

Changes in the amount and type of animal-sourced food (ASF) we consume, and in the way they are produced, are critical drivers of global human health and environmental quality. The project will develop novel policy tools and interventions to allow more informed and effective action to be taken to maximise the health and environmental co-benefits of changes in ASF consumption. We shall build a quantitative food system model incorporating economic, health and environmental modules that will allow the effects of existing drivers and novel policy interventions to be assessed. We shall exploit unique epidemiological resources to provide new evidence about how different types of ASF affect health, and conduct experiments to develop new interventions to influence the consumption of ASFs and ASF substitutes. A social-science component will research how social norms and political economic factors affect the practicality and acceptability of interventions, and how this may be changed. The effects of different types of ASF production on climate change, water use and quality, and ecosystem functions will be measured and brought together for the first time. The project will develop a distinct work stream in China and engagement with multiple audiences will be integral to all its activities.