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Prof. Martin Broadley is a Science Director at Rothamsted Research and Chair in Plant Nutrition at the University of Nottingham. His work focuses on improving the nutritional quality of crops and managing mineral nutrient dynamics in agriculture through collaborative research and training partnerships across Africa. In this interview, he outlines his extensive work and how it relates to CGIAR.

Q. What is your academic and professional background and how has it shaped your current thinking?

I began my academic career studying Ecology (BSc) and Environmental Sciences (PhD), before taking up a position at Horticulture Research International (now the University of Warwick) in 1997, and then a Lectureship in Plant Nutrition at the University of Nottingham in 2003. Since 2021, my primary role has been with Rothamsted Research, a specialized agricultural research institute in the UK where I am now a Science Director.

My research over most of this period has focused on improving the nutritional quality of crops and understanding how to better manage mineral nutrient dynamics in agriculture and food systems. An important factor in my current thinking was an early realization that more than a third of the world’s population suffer from “hidden hunger”—micronutrient deficiencies—even when calorie intake is sufficient, especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

This revelation helped develop the ideas which led to a large, collaborative project called GeoNutrition, a multidisciplinary approach to tackling these deficiencies through agriculture. This work has continuously evolved through collaborations with soil scientists, nutritionists, and social scientists. A key turning point for me was developing a doctoral training project that deepened my understanding of the role of institutions and the need to embed equitable research partnerships into international collaborations.

Q. What are the goals of the AgVACS project?

The AgVACS project (A Climate-Smart Agronomy Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils), funded by UK-CGIAR, aims to enhance agricultural resilience in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the savannah regions of northern Ghana and Nigeria. It seeks to do this by providing evidence to enable the better integration of underutilized crops, typically legumes (e.g., Bambara groundnut and pigeon pea), into climate-smart cropping systems using a combination of participatory research and modelling.  Specific activities and outputs will include:

1. Co-designing experimental networks with farmers to test agronomic practices across diverse soil and socio-economic contexts.
2. Developing modelling frameworks to assess productivity, equity, and environmental outcomes under current and future climates.
3. Evaluating interventions via on-farm trials to inform scalable, inclusive solutions.
4. Embedding equity metrics, especially for women and youth, into the co-design and evaluation of systems.
5. Strengthening partnerships to ensure uptake and impact of more climate-smart cropping systems and agronomic practices, for example, through Agronomy Science and Scaling Acceleration Platforms (ASSAPs).

Q. How will the research for this project leverage Rothamsted Research’s scientific expertise and facilities?

Rothamsted Research is leveraging its expertise in statistical design, agronomy, soil science, crop nutrition, and data integration. For example, Rothamsted is contributing to the development of participatory experimental networks and modelling frameworks, including new tools for researchers to optimize field trial designs for farmer ‘hub-and-spoke’ trialling systems that can maximize the potential adoption of climate-smart farming practices.

Rothamsted’s researchers are also supporting the integration of legacy soil and crop data, alongside work in the area of elicitation (of expert knowledge) and process-based modelling to assess agronomic interventions under different climate scenarios. Rothamsted’s data science capabilities are supporting the development of CGIAR’s information management frameworks.

Q. Why will collaboration with CGIAR and other institutes be so crucial to the research?

The overall CGIAR project leads are based in Ghana and Nigeria, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (ABC). Through these links, we are now also working with National Agricultural Research & Extension Services (NARES) partners, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR–SARI), Ghana, and Bayero University Kano (BUK), Nigeria. Rothamsted Research is the UK project lead, working closely with the University of Nottingham and the University of Warwick.

Collaboration with CGIAR and NARES partner institutes is essential to the AgVACS project because it enables the integration of global expertise, regional knowledge, and local engagement. CGIAR brings decades of experience in agricultural innovation, access to extensive datasets, and established programmes like the Excellence in Agronomy Initiative and Sustainable Farming Program, which are directly aligned with AgVACS goals.

These collaborations help foster the co-design and co-delivery of interventions with farmers and extension agents to ensure relevance and equity, while maximizing the potential for impact. By pooling resources and knowledge across institutions, AgVACS can generate scalable, climate-smart agronomic solutions tailored to diverse smallholder contexts.

Q. How do you see this project with the UK-CGIAR Centre evolving over the next few years?

The fundamental challenges facing smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are immense. These include increasing climate variability, declining soil health, and limited access to resilient crop varieties. These pressures threaten food security, livelihoods, and equity, especially for women and youth. Traditional agricultural interventions often fail to scale because they overlook local contexts, farmer preferences, and systemic constraints.

The AgVACS project is helping to address these challenges by integrating climate-smart agronomy with participatory research and modelling, co-creating solutions that are both scientifically robust and socially inclusive.  We anticipate the AgVACS project will continue to evolve through :(1) supporting the scaling of new cropping systems and agronomic practices, underpinned by robust evidence; (2) becoming a model for participatory action research between UK, CGIAR and NARES partners which could be developed for other regions and cropping systems. An example of this is through the Sustainable Farming Program and other parts of the CGIAR portfolio. The ultimate goal is to contribute to improved livelihoods and food security for all.