Al Imran

Research Project

Sustainable Rurbanity – Resources, Society, and Regulatory Systems. Sub/ B02 – RurbanFoodWaste: Understanding the sustainability potential of food waste as livestock feed in Indian rurban contexts. 

Summary

Rapid rural-urban transformation in India, particularly around Bengaluru, is reshaping the coexistence of urban expansion, smallholder dairy farming, diverse food-system activities, and local resource flows. In these settings, food waste and food loss are not only environmental and management challenges, but also potential resources that can be revalorized within livestock systems.

This project is part of the DFG Research Unit FOR5903, “Sustainable Rurbanity – Resources, Society, and Regulatory Systems,” which investigates rural-urban transformations and their implications for sustainable resource use, livelihoods, and social-ecological development. Within this broader framework, the project contributes to understanding how rurban spaces create new connections between food systems, livestock keeping, and circular resource use.

The B02 subproject, “RurbanFoodWaste,” examines how food waste and food loss are generated, accessed, transferred, and used as feed for dairy cattle in the rurban food systems of Bengaluru, India. The study focuses on interactions between food-system actors, including markets, food businesses, processors, consumers, neighbourhood communities, street dumps, and smallholder dairy households. It further explores the spatial, temporal, nutritional, economic, and livelihood dimensions of food waste revalorization.

The findings are expected to provide insights for researchers, development actors, and policymakers by identifying both the opportunities and limitations of using food waste as livestock feed. In this way, the project contributes to debates on circular economy, sustainable food systems, and the role of livestock in transforming rurban environments.

Short portrait

2025 - present:  Research Assistant, Section Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel & Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

2022 - 2024:  MS in Dairy Science, Department of Dairy Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University.

2016 - 2022:  B.Sc. in Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Bangladesh Agricultural University.

Languages

Bengali (native), English (professional proficiency), Hindi (working proficiency)