FARMS4Biodiversity
Promoting Biodiversity and Food Security in Malawi
Our Partnership
We worked with Malawian farmers and scholars from Canada, Germany, Norway and the United States to promote improved food security and protect biodiversity in an area that has been deeply affected by changes in climate and land use. We believe the research and ingenuity achieved by collaborating with scholars from peer institutions like Cornell University is needed to understand these processes and develop near- and long-term solutions.
About DU Research
We leverage cross-institutional collaboration to address some of today’s most pressing challenges, producing interdisciplinary solutions that influence policymakers to effectively serve the public good. From Stanford to UChicago to NYU, we’ve refined our collaborative process through years of mutually beneficial relationships with institutions nationwide to understand and address challenges like climate change, HIV and youth homelessness.
DU’s current research efforts have been featured in news outlets like The New York Times. They include…
- exploring the effects of felony disenfranchisement.
- employing lasers as the medium for quantum science.
- using theatre to heal and rehabilitate inmates.
About the Project
This project was a multi-national collaboration centered on advancing farming practices that protect both the food security of the Malawian people and the biodiversity of their surrounding environment. Progress made from this project helped Malawian farmers withstand the changes in climate and land use that they experienced, without having to resort to destructive agricultural practices.
We examined the ways in which micro-level social processes combined with macro-level forces to influence innovation and resilience in agriculture. Methods used include surveys, focus groups, community discussions and analysis of Malawian agricultural policy.
Researchers on the project came from Cornell University; University of Denver; University of Toronto; University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg); University of Western Ontario; and the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Project; along with other academic and community partners.