Growing global challenges put the food supply system at risk; collaborative projects with the Global South showcase that resilient and sustainable farming is possible.
The global food system is confronted with various challenges. Climate change, over-exploitation of resources or supply chain disruptions put food security at risk, and especially countries of the Global South are suffering from an increasingly difficult situation. To take a step into the future, new approaches and holistic ideas are needed to overcome existing hurdles and develop future-proof and sustainable food systems, and one very promising way to go is agroecology.
Therefore, SwissCore jointly organised a Science Briefing with the Mission of Switzerland to the EU and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) Switzerland on 31 May 2023 to provide in-depth insights into agroecological research and the possibilities of this approach, combining agronomy and ecology.
The Deputy Head of the Mission of Switzerland to the EU, Alexander Renggli, set the scene for the event by highlighting the pressing importance of the topic, pointing out that about 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure according to a World Food Programme report from February 2023. In his speech, he referenced the Global Land Outlook of 2022 which found that food systems “are responsible for about 80% of deforestation, 70% of freshwater use and the single greatest cause of terrestrial biodiversity loss”. Especially conventional farms, with high fertiliser use and monocultures are contributing to agricultural greenhouse emissions while worsening soil health tremendously. He welcomed agroecology as a more viable, resilient and ecologically sound alternative to conventional farming and the important contribution made by FiBL for the development and research in agroecology. He also pointed out the longstanding scientific cooperation between Switzerland and the EU in the fields of farming and biodiversity research, for example, via the Partnership Biodiversa (+). Renggli expressed his hope for a fast association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe to use the full potential of cooperation again.
In a first session moderated by Sarah Bühler of SwissCore, Beate Huber Director of Corporate Culture and Head of the Department of International Cooperation of FiBL Switzerland, presented the extraordinary research institute, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary. FiBL is specialised in systems research, combining the three core aspects of: i. systems thinking, ii. participation and transdisciplinarity, and iii. solution orientation. FiBL links research and farming and by this explores new ways to think about food supply systems with co-designed projects and long-term studies, including partners from all over the world, and particularly from the Global South. One of the highlighted projects is SysCom, which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Liechtenstein Development Service, Biovision Foundation and the Coop Sustainability Fund. Working with crops like beans, grains, cocoa, maize and cotton, several long-term studies in different African, South American and Asian countries could show that the yield gap between conventional and organic farming could be decreased from 30% to 2.8%. SysCom as well as the Horizon2020 funded Sustain Sahel project discussed by Harun Cicek of FiBL Switzerland could provide evidence that the difference between conventional and organic farming is relatively small while using agroforestry or other organic farming practices like shrub and good livestock management in comparison to monocultures and traditional farming methods result in higher yields, better climate outputs and reduced costs.
ETH Professor Johanna Jacobi embedded these two successful collaborative projects in the broader scientific context, defining agroecology not simply as the combination of agronomy and ecology, but as a tripartite and holistic endeavour bringing together science, practice and the social movement. Agroecology tries to establish a paradigm shift, using new approaches and metrics, generating innovative results. One crucial aspect is the “Un-yielding”, by shifting away from yield-centred outcomes to FARE agriculture that brings together the qualities of Food security, Agrobiodiversity, Regeneration and Equitability on all levels, from local to global and in the long-term dimension. Jacobi highlighted that work on agroecological techniques brought to light that many problems in the agrar sector in developing countries are social and societal constraints and not primarily farming technology-based challenges. As Jacobi phrased it, agroecology is rooted in diversity, transdisciplinarity and collaboration, only successful in a democratised and systemic way. This also means that the co-creation process for science in this regard needs more time and has to respect the qualities of the different knowledge systems involved.
Following these three inspiring presentations, a panel moderated by Irene Kadzere of FiBL debated the possibilities, challenges and chances of agroecology and reacted to motivated questions from the audience. Guy Faure from the European Commissions Directorate General for International Partnerships emphasised the Commission’s ambitions in creating a framework addressing challenges like food insecurity. Under the umbrella of the Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Food 2030 policy framework, dedicated funding instruments under Horizon Europe are used to support agroecology, which 10 years ago wasn’t even a topic. Meanwhile, it stays a challenge as the mindset of many actors is rigid and coordinating private and public stakeholders is hard. Faure still foresees the increase of positive outcomes in research and cooperative projects in general, based on the fact that building trust and co-created structures need time, he assumes that new funding options may be introduced.
Also, the two Professors from German universities, Georg Cadisch and Eva Schlecht, see immense potential in agroecology. The ability to develop more and more complex models, like the ones Cadisch is working on, helps to gain a general understanding of agroecological systems and guide new experiments. Using models, the best approaches can be selected and, therefore, resources saved. By taking into account more and more dimensions and variables, models are needed to grasp the holistic core of agroecology. To develop these models, experimental results are indispensable; that is one reason why the work of FiBL is so precious; the long-term observations from FiBL are rare and essential to be able to develop complex and resilient models. Eva Schlecht also put focus on the need for long-term and consistent partnerships and research, highlighting that many techniques need several years to show any effect, for example, her own research on livestock. Schlecht stressed that the industrialised food production and interactions with animals we have in the Global North, need a major rethinking. This could be supported by the traditions, knowledge and experiences of the Global South; she condensed it into “the North has to learn from the South”.
The final conclusive remarks were done in a co-creation process by different participants from the audience. They showed that the interest and fascination for the topic were strong and the following apéro offered by the Mission of Switzerland to the EU was an excellent opportunity to continue the fruitful discussions.