The Swedish Research Council’s Committee for Development Research was disbanded on 31 december 2023. During its eleven years, it was a driving force behind Swedish research in this field. The experiences from the Committee’s work are now presented in a report describing the work, reflecting on successes and challenges, and indicating possible ways forward for the field.
An interesting aspect highlighted in the report is the importance that VR-funded development research has had in solving problems in Sweden as well. In this context African swine fever is mentioned, where SLU's researchers, together with the National Veterinary Institute, have been very active and developed knowledge that helped solve problems during the outbreak in Sweden.
"For research to also have well-working international networks and collaborations is entirely necessary; something we also saw in 2023, when Sweden had to deal with an outbreak of African swine fever. The competence built up by Swedish researchers in collaboration with researchers in East Africa was central to the ability to manage the disease outbreak."
Three examples of high-quality research from SLU are featured
Plant and genetic breeding of heat-resistant crops, on page.14.
"For many years, successful research in plant breeding has been carried out at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), funded by the Swedish Research Council among others, aimed at developing crops (durum wheat and rice) that can cope with climate change and thereby 15 improve food security. The research applies the very latest methods for plant breeding through genomic selection, phenotyping, and field trials in the environments where the crops are to be used.
The results have had great scientific impact and have been included in a large number of well-cited articles. Rodomiro Ortiz Ríos, Professor at the Department of Plant Breeding at SLU, has together with colleagues at SLU and internationally also been awarded several prizes for his contribution to food security in the parts of the world involved.
Read more: Fast-growing durum wheat for hot climate receives innovation prize."
The two other examples from SLU are:
Improving the oilseed crop noug (Guizotia abyssinica) through the utilization of its genetic resources in Ethiopia (2014-03517, project grant).
Project leader: Mulatu Geleta Dida, SLU.
Building synergies between biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and rural prosperity through community forest governance (2022-04581, project grant) Project leader: Harry Fischer, SLU.
See pages 45-46.
Read the full report here
It is also available in Swedish.
