Top universities for solving world hunger in 2024

University Impact Rankings for UN SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Times Higher Education evaluated and ranked 803 universities across 96 countries/regions for their significant contributions towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2: zero hunger. These universities are recognised for their dedicated efforts in pioneering world hunger solutions, extensive research in food security and impactful educational initiatives aimed at achieving zero hunger globally. By integrating academic research with practical applications, these institutions play a crucial role in addressing food poverty and ensuring sustainable food practices.

These top-ranking universities exemplify commitment to eliminating hunger through dynamic approaches that encompass both community engagement and global partnerships. By focusing on sustainable agriculture and effective food distribution strategies, they contribute substantially to the eradication of hunger, ensuring that future generations have access to nutritious and sufficient food.

Summary of findings

The ranking for SDG 2: zero hunger is led by Queen’s University in Canada. The US’ Oklahoma State University and New Zealand’s Lincoln University take the second and third spots.

The top newcomer is France’s Institut Agro in 11th place.

Turkey is the most-represented country for SDG 2: zero hunger, with 50 institutions. The UK is home to the highest number of places in the top 100: 14.

Methodology

To provide a fair and comprehensive assessment, our methodology for SDG 2: zero hunger includes a wide range of indicators that cover essential aspects of universities' involvement in combating hunger and enhancing food security:

Research on hunger (27%)

• Number of publications that address hunger
• Field-weighted citation impact of publications on hunger
• Proportion of hunger-related papers in top journals

Campus food waste (15.4%)

• Track food waste on campus
• Amount of food waste on campus

Student hunger (19.2%)

• Programmes to ensure all students have access to nutritious, sustainable food
• Initiatives to combat hunger among the student population

Proportion of graduates in agriculture and aquaculture including sustainability aspects (19.2%)

• The proportion of graduates from programmes focused on sustainable agriculture and aquaculture

National hunger (19.2%)

• University-led initiatives that impact local and national strategies to combat hunger
• Collaborations with local and national bodies to improve food security and reduce hunger

The Impact Rankings are inherently dynamic: they are growing rapidly each year as many more universities seek to demonstrate their commitment to delivering the SDGs by joining our database; and they allow institutions to demonstrate rapid improvement year-on-year, by introducing clear new policies, for example, or by providing clearer and more open evidence of their progress. Therefore, we expect and welcome regular change in the ranked order of institutions (and we discourage year-on-year comparisons) as universities continue to drive this urgent agenda.

View the overall Impact Rankings 2024

Read our analysis of the Impact Rankings 2024 results

Download a free copy of the Impact Rankings 2024 digital report

Register to participate in next year’s Impact Rankings

To raise your university’s global profile with Times Higher Education, contact branding@timeshighereducation.com

To unlock the data behind THE’s Impact Rankings and access a range of analytical and benchmarking tools, click here