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.
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.
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
In May 2026, the team submitted evidence to the Right to Food UK Commission. It highlights how access to food and related welfare support increasingly depends on digital infrastructure, devices, design and skills; and that digital exclusion serves as a barrier to realising the right to food in practice.
This working paper presents findings for the second, in-depth phase of the research in England. It focuses on the experience of marginalised populations as well as how digital food assistance practices interact with political and economic processes.
Together with the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA), the team has edited a blog series on ‘The politics of food and technology’ based on their IHSA conference panel.
After several weeks of mass starvation in Gaza dominating global television coverage, news reports of similar conditions in Sudan’s El Fasher, once Darfur’s capital, are finally emerging. Both regions remain under siege, with starvation deployed as a weapon for the purpose of emptying and occupying them.
This article argues that the digitalisation of food assistance mimics aspects of colonialism, especially in terms of the asymmetries involved in the extraction of data (as a valuable resource) from vulnerable populations and the dominating role of US-based multinationals.
This working paper reports on phase I – the exploratory phase – of ESRC-funded research into the effects of digitalising food assistance in India.
This working paper examines the digitalisation of food assistance in the UK, focusing on its implementation, challenges, and socio-political implications.