Research topics
From biodiversity to true pricing, from consumer behaviour to fisheries, from nature based solutions to farmers' revenue models, from sustainable value chains to health. Wageningen Economic Research has unique socio-economic exertise in all these fields. How do we keep our planet livable, while her inhabitants earn a living income and have access to health food? We think with you in policy and decision making. Our data and models provide help in this process.
Improving sustainability along the Agri & Food chain
Sustainability is high on many companies’ agendas. Organisations are striding to meet a variety of sustainability goals, such as lowering your carbon footprint and improving working conditions across value chains. These topics are big and complex and often outside your circle of influence. You have already taken some steps in the right direction, but how can you tell if your strategy is working? Are you pursuing the right goals? And what is the next step to gain a competitive advantage and to strengthen your business? Find out how we can help you with achieving your sustainability goals.
Developing new business models
Wageningen Economic Research is increasingly asked to work with companies on the development and implementation of innovative and sustainable business models. This working method is relatively new, and ensures that Wageningen Economic Research's previously developed and validated tools and expertise are becoming available to companies, for example for the benefit of implementing new, more sustainable business models.
Consumer & Food
The agrifood sector extends across the entire food spectrum, from primary production to processing, marketing, and distribution. Both the Dutch and the international agrifood sector are committed to the production of top-quality food in sustainable chains, where people, livestock, and the environment are paramount. In order to meet this commitment a consumer-oriented and market-based approach is essential.
Markets and chains
Sustainable development of agri-food chains worldwide is now more important than ever. The current food production and distribution system creates bottlenecks: emissions of ammonia and nitrogen to soil and water, particulate matter, CO2, odour emissions, animal welfare problems, undesirable side effects of plant protection products, light nuisance, damage to biodiversity and soil quality, exploitation and lack of living income.
Towards a healthy diet in a liveable environment
More than half the world's population lives in a city – in Europe the proportion is as high as 75 per cent – and that share is rising. In 2050, more than three-quarters of the nine billion people inhabiting the earth will be located in cities. This global urbanisation will lead to issues regarding food supply: How will we produce and distribute sufficient and varied food for and to these urban populations in a healthy and responsible manner?
Digital innovation in Agri & Food
Agriculture and food production is increasingly being digitalised by using all kind of smart devices and intelligent software systems. It may seem like only technical specialists and engineers can help digitalisation, but we think digital innovation is much more a social experiment requiring socio-economic insight.
Due Diligence Dashboard by Wageningen Food Views
If you work in the agri-food industry, you often wonder: what if? What if you’re importing palm oil from a particular region – are there human rights and environmental risks to consider? But answering that question is both costly and time-consuming. That’s why we have come up with a solution providing instant, robust, and reliable sector-specific risk scores: our Due Diligence Dashboard by Wageningen Food Views.
Digital Ethics and Responsible digitalisation
The development of digital technology (such as, AI, robots, IoT, Digital Twins) for the agri-food sector often raises ethical and societal questions. These questions are often not attended to until very late in the innovation process, when the technology is finished developing and ready to be put on the market. But at that point, these questions may hinder a fluid adoption and acceptance of the technology.