Published: 18 Dec 2024 | Last Updated: 18 Dec 2024 11:29:09

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has been awarded more than USD $339,160 from the Tiny Beam’s Kindling Initiative grant to continue Critical Research on Industrial Livestock Systems (CRILS) Network. CRILS aims to support and advocate for just and sustainable food systems, especially in the Global South.

The CRILS Network brings together researchers and non-academics, including policymakers, industry and lawyers, across disciplines and geographies to challenge and nuance narratives of livestock production systems, and understand the trade-offs of large-scale industrial livestock systems and their globalised supply chains. 

The ways in which livestock systems are governed and controlled shape the food system. For example, industrial farming has boosted the availability of affordable and in-demand animal-sourced foods and advanced food security. However, when poorly considered, an industrialised system can contribute to land dispossession, biodiversity loss, degraded animal welfare, poor working conditions and the erosion of traditional and indigenous knowledge – implications which carry a higher burden in the Global South.

While there is no single change that can resolve these connected and complex challenges, the research undertaken by the CRILS Network enables a better understanding of the processes and pathways towards improving actions that benefit people and planet and support a One Health approach.

In its current iteration, the CRILS Network will focus on strengthening the relationships and collaborations between global North and South academics and practitioners to improve the relevance and accessibility of evidence-based strategies for systems change.

The grant will enable this research, led by Dr Mehroosh Tak, Senior Lecturer in Agribusiness at the RVC, to continue CRILS’ work of hosting events which discuss and examine challenges to creating just and sustainable systems for livestock production and management. These will be delivered through a series of online and in-person workshops, as well as thematic research working groups which will advance the methodological approaches used to understand industrial animal agriculture.

This also builds on the work of the CRILS Network which in 2023/24 hosted workshops and a public lecture in collaboration with academics from around the world, including Tufts University, The University of Exeter and Hong Kong City University, and practitioners from Feedback International, Greenpeace Africa and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Through these events CRILS is developing a critical research agenda to examine the current state of livestock systems by challenging the benefits, limitations and trade-offs of industrialised systems. This is achieved by crosspollinating ideas across academics and practitioners working on the same question and innovative use of available data on changing structure of the food system.

Dr Mehroosh Tak, Senior Lecturer in Agribusiness at the RVC, said:

“This new phase of funding will help network members to pave the way for new research by asking seldom asked questions that highlight the system level impact of industrial animal agriculture. The funding will allow us to continue our ambition to connect researchers and practitioners, for the two sides to leverage from each other’s knowledge systems. I am excited to push methodological boundaries and generate new research with a community of critical thinkers.”

The Founder of The Tiny Beam Fund, said:

“We have been impressed by the CRILS Network’s activities and decided to support this unique global network to reach even more individuals and offer them new ideas and opportunities to share and connect.”

Notes to Editors

More information about the CRILS Network can be found at: https://www.crils.org/

Media contacts

• Jasmin De Vivo – devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with associated recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024.
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
• The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.