GFI Supported Research
Overview
The Global Food Institute (GFI) is focused on changing the world through the power of food. GFI supports research around examining the food system from global, domestic, and local levels. The following describes projects led by GFI affiliate faculty and staff.
Reports around the results of their research are scheduled to be published in July 2025.
GFI-Supported Research
Project One: Piloting a Solar-Powered Cold Storage Innovation for Postharvest Loss Prevention
Research Team: Moses Mosonsieyiri Kansanga, PhD MPhil; Robert Orttung, PhD MA; and David Rain, PhD
Description:
Many believe that expanding global cold chains is a critical strategy to reduce poverty, increase nutrition and health security, and advance climate action. A "cold chain" refers to a temperature-controlled supply chain that ensures perishable goods like food, pharmaceuticals, and certain chemicals are stored and transported at specific temperatures from the point of production to the final consumer, maintaining their quality and efficacy throughout the process. Essentially, it's a system of managing the temperature of sensitive products throughout their distribution journey.
Currently, severe food insecurity affects about 24 percent of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), compared to other relatively food insecure regions like Asia, and Latin America with 9.7 percent and 12.6 percent severe food insecurity rates, respectively (FAO; IFAD; UNICEF; WFP; and WHO, 2023). Meanwhile, available evidence suggests that 40 percent of the annual yield in Sub-Saharan Africa is lost postharvest, with an estimated value of about $1.6 billion (FAO, 2010; Lipinski et al., 2013). The rate of food loss is much higher for vegetables. Evidence shows farmers lose more than 50% of the annual harvest, with women bearing a disproportionate brunt of these losses.
Overall, globally, 526 million tons (12 percent of total food production) are lost due to lack of cold chains, enough to feed more than 1 billion people.
To help combat the rate of food loss in Sub-Saharan Africa, GW’s Moses Kansanga is piloting and evaluating a cold chain innovation: solar-powered refrigeration for preserving vegetables in off-grid environments in Africa. The goal of this innovation is to help increase farmer sales by reducing food loss and increase consumers’ access to fresh vegetables in a sustainable cost-effective manner. Prof. Kasanga’s project is piloting a model in Ghana in collaboration with the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies( SBB-UBIDS).
Project Two: Impacts of Private Investments in Transforming Smallholder Farming
Principal Investigator (PI): Samuel Ledermann, PhD
Co-PI: Michael Mann, PhD MA
Description:
Smallholder farmers power economies in the Global South. Working usually on less than five acres of land, they play a key role in achieving sustainable development. With declining public funding for agriculture, they however have received less support over the decades.
In Africa, there’s an annual funding gap of 21 billion USD for an agricultural transformation. To fill this gap, private capital needs to be activated. New ventures, such as the Financing Agricultural Small- and-Medium Enterprises in Africa (FASA) fund work to bridge the gap in underserved regions. FASA, co-launched by Norwegian Agencay for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and USAID in 2023 aims to mobilize 2 billion USD to support 500 agri-businesses and reach 1.5 million smallholder farmers.
The positive impact of such investment ventures on businesses is better understood. A knowledge gap however exists around how such investments translate into improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers who are indirect beneficiaries. GW’s Samuel Ledermann and Michael Mann are researching for a novel methodology on how the effectiveness and impacts of such funds on smallholders could be assessed. Their hope is to spur future research that can steer funding towards supporting transformational impacts for smallholder farmers.
Project Three: Developing and refining eco-friendly messaging to reduce sugary drink consumption among low-income African American children in Washington D.C.
Principal Investigator: Allison Sylvetsky, PhD
Co-Investigators: William (Doug) Evans, PhD; Jennifer Sacheck PhD; and Nia Bodrick MD
Consultant: James Krieger, MD MPH (University of Washington)
Description:
“DC-SIPS: Decreasing Children’s Sugar Intake through Pediatricians and Social Marketing,” is a six-week program designed to reduce sugary drink intake among Black children and parents from households with low-income in Washington, D.C. DC-SIPS was developed in collaboration with pediatricians at THEARC in Ward 8 of Washington D.C., and created with input from children and families seen at THEARC using a community-engaged approach.
GFI is supporting a new aspect of the research that aims to develop and refine additional messaging focused on adverse environmental impacts of sugary drinks. The additional messages will:
- Resonate with the target population’s cultural norms and values.
- Emphasize the adverse environmental effects of sugary drink intake via eco-friendly messaging.
- Enhance DC-SIPS effectiveness in reducing SD intake and increasing tap water intake.
The research team plans to incorporate the environmentally-focused messages currently being developed into the existing DC-SIPS intervention and subsequently evaluate its impact on reducing sugary drink intake and increasing tap water intake in the DC-SIPS target population.
Project Four: Addressing and Mitigating Food Insecurity among the George Washington University Student Community
Principal Investigator: Gabby Headrick, PhD, MSPH, RDN
Co-Investigator: Jennifer Sacheck, PhD
Other members of the research team: Andrew Sonn, Ed.D.
Description:
One in two students at The George Washington University experience food insecurity, according to the 2021 National College Health Assessment.
Dr. Gabby Headrick, Assistant Professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Director of Undergraduate Programs in Nutrition, is partnering with GW’s Division for Student Affairs to examine the episodic and persistent nature of food insecurity among students. Their research explores food resource management, coping strategies, and the effectiveness of support systems like The Store, GW’s student-run food pantry.
By generating data-driven insights, this study will inform stronger support structures at GW and other universities in the greater Washington, DC, area.