Meeting with the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) World Food System Center

Partnerships with academia and research institutions greatly enhance FAO’s ability to implement its mandate to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and contribute to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Mobilizing and sharing knowledge, enhancing capacity building resource exchange and implementing joint outreach activities, are some of the key important areas of potential collaboration. 

As part of its new business model, FAO in Geneva has made partnerships a key priority for 2022. This includes leading Swiss institutions with local and global reach and important research capacity that can add value to FAO’s work in support of transforming agri-food systems. Early in January, the FAO in Geneva Director, Mr Dominique Burgeon had a very fruitful meeting with Professor Martijn Sonnevelt, Executive Director of the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology’s (ETH) World Food System Center  (WFSC) and Chairman of the Swiss National FAO Committee (CNS-FAO).

Professor Sonnevelt provided a very insightful presentation on the work of the WFSC, a leading research institution in Switzerland and globally, working to boost the transformation of agri-food systems. Some of the key research programme areas include Sustainability in Food Value Chains; Enhancing Resilience in Food Systems; Novel Proteins for Food and Feed; ETH Studio AgroFood; Special Collaborations and Enhancing Biodiversity & Resilience in Agriculture and Agroecology, which are all of critical importance for FAO and its Members.

Professor Sonnevelt also spoke  about the work of the Swiss National FAO Committee (CNS-FAO), a consultative body of the Federal Council for questions relating to food security and sustainable food systems established in 1947. CNS-FAO brings together all key actors of the sector (farmers associations, economists, academia, NGOs, and the food industry, among others), adopting a multidisciplinary approach. It provides advice to the Federal Council and the federal administration, as well as FAO and other Rome-based agencies to boost efforts in the fight against hunger and its causes, for an improvement of global food security and the promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Building upon the successful collaboration that FAO enjoys with the Government of Switzerland, the meeting marked an important step in the efforts to strengthen partnership with Swiss institutions playing an active role in the transformation of agri-food systems.