FAO in Geneva visit Agroscope, the leading agriculture research institution of Switzerland

27/09/2022

Partnerships with academia and research institutions greatly enhance FAO's ability to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). FAO actively collaborates with higher education and research institutions to mobilize knowledge and innovations, strengthen capacities, provide evidence-based solutions to policy processes and share its own field experience with the academic community.

It was in this context that Mr Dominique Burgeon, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva and his team visited Agroscope, the leading agriculture research institution of the Swiss Confederation under the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The visit was a very first step to exchange views and identify potential opportunities for collaboration between Agroscope and FAO, in the context and in support of the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy.

Mr Burgeon shared information on FAO's strategies and activities, including the current global food security situation, FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031, and FAO's Science and Innovation Strategy, highlighting the urgency of agrifood systems transformation. He also outlined the business model adopted by the FAO office in Geneva and briefed on the thematic dialogue series highlighting the intention to create space for science and innovation.

Agroscope team presented the institution’s functioning and research areas. The main responsibilities of Agroscope include: i) Research and development in the field of agriculture and agrifood; ii) Policy advice for the authorities, and iii) Enforcement tasks within the framework of legal provisions. The combination of these three tasks creates numerous synergies and makes Agroscope the mediator between fundamental and applied research, with 95 percent of its research being applied.

Agroscope operates across the entire food value chain from the laboratory and production to consumption. The three principles of its programme of work 2022-25, validated by FOAG, include: agroecology, systemic research (value chain, all actors) and co-creation (the test stations bring researchers and practitioners together, in a co-creative approach). Its six strategic priority research areas are: climate change, protection of natural resources, agroecology, healthy diets, competitive food production, and sustainable livestock production.

FAO and Agroscope agreed to continue exchanges with a goal of identifying key areas for collaboration with FAO counterparts including the Office for Science and Innovation, led by FAO Chief Scientist and other FAO divisions. Key areas of potential collaboration include soil fertility, agroecology and digitalization.