A major 3-year ESRC- funded project examining how digitalising food assistance has influenced access to food for marginalised populations and its role as a source of power. We’re working in Sudan, India and the UK. The project is situated in the SOAS Food Studies Centre.
Latest News
Event
On 18 July 2026, we held a workshop entitled 'Improving food and digital access for the Sudanese community in Birmingham'.
Event
On 8 July, Susanne Jaspars presented a joint paper with C Sathyamala and Tamer Abd Elkreem in the panel on ‘The political economy of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and development.
Publication
2 July 2026
Together with partners The Food Foundation, Yasmin Houamed, Susanne Jaspars, and Iris Lim produced this policy brief based on their research on the effects of digitalising food assistance and welfare in the UK.
Publication
July 2 2026
In this blog, Yasmin Houamed writes about how the digitalisation is reshaping the food assistance landscape and argues that the expansion of "hubs" and ‘wrap-around' services risks normalising emergency food aid.
Press
7 July 2026
Over the past year, the team has obtained two separate impact grants from the SOAS ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. These grants are to disseminate findings and maximise impact in London and Birmingham.
Publication
26 June 2026
Political economy and experiences of digitalised food assistance
This working paper presents findings for the second, in-depth phase of the research in Sudan. It focuses on the experience of marginalised populations in different parts of the country, as well as how digital food assistance practices interact with political and economic processes
