SMAR3TS project partner University of Cambridge – IfM Engage is seeking innovative approaches to strengthen the resilience, sustainability and fairness of agrifood supply chains in the face of climate change, geopolitical instability, market volatility and rising resource costs.
Food systems are increasingly exposed to multiple, overlapping shocks — extreme weather, trade disruption, energy price spikes, regulatory change and social inequality. These shocks do not only threaten food availability, but also undermine nutrition, affordability and livelihoods across regions.
IfM Engage works with partners in the UK, United States and India to study how products, processes, data and geography interact to shape risk, sustainability and performance across food value chains. This research shows that many supply chains have been optimised for cost and efficiency, but not for resilience, equity or environmental sustainability.
Within SMAR3TS, this I3X focuses on building policy-informed, data-driven and stakeholder-aligned approaches that allow agrifood systems to continue delivering nutritious food, stable supply, affordable prices, and equitable access even under disruption.
The Innovate3X (I3X) challenge, framed around resilience, restoration and regeneration, invites SMAR3TS partners to contribute through secondments that help analyse, redesign and strengthen agrifood supply chains.
In response to this I3X, secondees could work on, for example:
- Mapping vulnerabilities and risks across food supply chains
- Analysing how climate, trade and energy shocks affect food availability and prices
- Developing data and digital tools for supply-chain visibility and decision-making
- Supporting policy-informed strategies for food security and sustainability
- Facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration across producers, processors, retailers and governments
SMAR3TS project partner – University of Cambridge (IfM Engage, Institute for Manufacturing) is looking for innovative approaches to support resilient, sustainable and inclusive agrifood supply chains.
For more info: please see the details in the attachments.
Please note: the secondments are open only to SMAR3TS Consortium Partners.
Necessary skills and capabilities across disciplines
This I3X requires knowledge and understanding of:
Examples of challenges that need to be addressed
Exposure to climate and geopolitical shocks
Food supply chains are increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather, trade disputes, and energy price volatility.
Lack of transparency and data
Many food systems lack real-time visibility of risks, stocks, and flows.
Trade-offs between cost, sustainability, and resilience
Current supply chains are optimised for price, not for long-term stability or environmental impact.
Fragmented governance and coordination
Producers, processors, retailers, and policymakers often operate in silos, limiting system-level resilience.
I3X at the University of Cambridge – About the initiator
1. Background info
IfM Engage is part of the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge, and specialises in translating research into practice through industry, government and societal engagement.
2. Research Group / Company Department
IfM Engage works with international partners on agrifood systems, supply-chain resilience and sustainability transitions, including research programmes linking the UK, US and India.
Link to the website: https://engage.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk
Contact info:
Dr David Lott, Chief Executive Officer
Email: dl362@cam.ac.uk
See attachment for more information about the I3X initiator and this I3X.
Alignment to Work-Packages (Nutrition, Mobility, Energy, Housing)
This I3X is primarily aligned with Nutrition, as it directly supports food security, food systems and sustainable nutrition, and also links to Mobility (logistics and distribution) and Energy (energy use and price impacts in food systems).
Alignment to Resilience, Restoration, Regeneration (R3)
This I3X contributes to:
- Resilience by strengthening food systems against shocks and disruption
- Restoration by reducing environmental and social vulnerabilities in food chains
- Regeneration by enabling fairer, more sustainable and future-proof agrifood ecosystems
SMAR3TS (Staff Mobility to Action Resilient, Restorative, & Regenerative Transitions & Societies) enables secondments (staff exchanges), between 36 partners, across 16 countries (and 4 continents), to undertake cutting-edge research and innovation on resilience, restoration, regeneration (R3) across four sectors: energy, mobility, nutrition and housing, to accelerate pathways to economic, environmental and societal impact.
SMAR3TS is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange Program Project ID: 101236376.
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