Each year, about 32% of the food produced across the world is lost or wasted. Tackling food loss and waste has been on the global agenda for decades, with policymakers citing it as a contributing factor to issues like food…

As the world seeks to achieve zero hunger and mitigate the environmental degradation tied to food production and consumption, reducing food loss and waste is a critical challenge for policymakers in developed and developing countries alike. Wasted Potential: Tackling Food Loss and Waste Across Transforming...

The Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) has published its 2024–25 Annual Report. The report offers an in-depth look at the full range of TCI’s research and other activities, including grant-funded projects like the Zero-Hunger, Zero-Carbon Food Systems project…

Recent research has revealed a frightening reality: on average, we are consuming the equivalent of one credit card of plastic every week. That’s right, every week, we unknowingly ingest microplastics—tiny plastic particles that have found their way into our food…

Menstrual health has gained increasing attention among public health researchers and policymakers in recent years. The use of hygienic materials during menstruation is essential for safeguarding women’s health, dignity and well-being. Poor menstrual health is exacerbating social and economic inequalities.…

This policy brief presents the results of a study of the impact of toilet subsidies and behavior change communications on the practice of open defecation in rural India. TCI researchers conducted a cluster randomized trial of villages in Uttar Pradesh, providing one group of villages...

Solving a problem like open defecation is not as simple as installing toilets. In 2019, after decades of work, India scored a major developmental victory by providing 600 million people with access to toilets. But while the toilets were built,…

Abstract Read a policy brief based on this study. Background Open defecation (OD) remains a significant public health challenge in India, contributing to adverse child health outcomes. Eliminating OD and improving child health necessitates both universal access and adoption of toilets. Despite the success of...

The Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) has published its 2023–24 Annual Report. The report offers an in-depth look at the full range of TCI’s research and other activities, including projects like Zero-Hunger, Zero-Carbon Food Systems, and field research…

As countries around the world have urbanized rapidly over the past fifty years, infrastructure construction, particularly in the Global South, has struggled to keep pace. Many urban dwellers rely on sanitation systems that fail to adequately treat human waste, harming…