Sufficient and adequate food is a human right, yet over 800 million people remain chronically undernourished. The SDC works at various levels to ensure that every person in the world has access to sufficient and adequate food.
The SDC's focus
The SDC aims to achieve sustainable food security for all. That is why it promotes agriculture, markets and food policies that guarantee secure access to adequate food even for the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of the population. In its work, the SDC considers all aspects of the entire food system, 'from farm to fork', which affect food availability and quality.
While direct food aid deliveries play an important role during acute crises, the SDC is increasingly supporting projects that prioritise sustainable and balanced long-term nutrition and functioning local markets. In the event of a crisis, food aid can thus be delivered much more efficiently by focusing on those most in need.
The SDC focuses in particular on the role of women and young people in food production and nutrition. It works to ensure that they have access to resources and education. Young people often seek opportunities in the agriculture or food sector, both in the rural and in urban areas. By providing sound training endeavours in organic farming as well as start-up opportunities for food retailers in towns and cities, the SDC helps to boost economic prospects while also strengthening food systems.
To improve access for all, especially disadvantaged groups, the SDC is active in the following areas:
Right to food
The SDC was actively involved in drafting the UN's Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realisation of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, adopted in 2004, and has since been working to ensure their implementation. A number of countries have subsequently adjusted their policies, legislation and institutions in accordance with the Guidelines. The SDC is also working to ensure that civil society organisations and other stakeholders can monitor compliance with the right to adequate food and tell governments where there is potential for improvement.
Balanced nutrition
The SDC works to ensure that, in addition to staple foods, people also have access to a varied diet. To this end, it supports diversified agricultural production and food systems. Information and awareness-raising work, education, access to safe drinking water, healthcare and proper processing and storage of food also play an important role.
Crop forecasting and insurance
The SDC uses new technologies such as satellite data with radar technology to establish crop forecasting and agricultural micro-insurance. Among other things, crop forecasts facilitate the early detection of food crises, enabling timely intervention to prevent food emergencies and famine. In partnership with the private sector, the SDC develops micro-insurance products for smallholder farmers as well as insurance for countries, against flooding and drought for example. This is important to prevent more people falling even deeper into poverty.
Background
Hunger and malnutrition are major challenges. While the proportion of hungry people in the world fell from 23% to 12% between 1992 and 2015, according to the UN approximately 821 million people were chronically undernourished in 2017.
Sufficient and nutritious food is especially important during the first 1,000 days of an infant's life, otherwise the child can suffer permanent damage. According to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report, over 240 million children under the age of five are affected by chronic or acute malnutrition and more than 2 billion people are suffering from vitamin or mineral deficiency. To counter this problem, food can be enriched with micronutrients. However, a sounder approach would be to promote diversified agricultural production that provides access to a wider range of foods.
The right to adequate food is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) made this right legally binding. In Switzerland, the ICESCR came into force in 1992.
To improve the overall quality of food systems, the SDC draws particularly on innovations developed by Swiss universities and private companies. Such partnerships range from research into sustainable cropping systems and scientific consolidation of practical experience from the food industry through to the development and application of technological solutions. The SDC helps to disseminate these approaches through international policy dialogue, drawing on its own decades of experience, as well as that of Swiss non-governmental development organisations in agricultural projects and from collaborative work with farmers' organisations.
Links
Documents
Strategy 2017–2020: Global Programme Food Security (PDF, 2.6 MB, English)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The State of
Food Insecurity in the world 2014
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: State of Food
Insecurity in the World (in brief)
Freiwillige Leitlinien für das Recht auf Nahrung
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The human
Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progrssive Realization of the Right
Current projects
Inovagro Private Sector Led Rural Growth
02.01.2018
- 31.12.2021
Inovagro aims at increasing the incomes of poor farmers in Northern Mozambique, through ‘pro-poor’ private sector development. It improves farmers’ access to inputs and markets through local private, public and civil society partners. Phase III will consolidate the work of previous phases and focus on scale-up and replicability of successful interventions. There will also be a stronger focus on women inclusion, risk reduction, communication and knowledge sharing based on lessons learnt over the past years.
Additional Contribution 2018 to WFP’s Emergency Response in Madagascar
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2018
In line with the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) principles, Switzerland recognizes the necessity of predictable and flexible funding to respond to changing needs in humanitarian crises. SDC funding to WFP operations allows the World Food Programme (WFP) to respond proactively and to provide immediate food assistance in life-threatening situations.
Rural Markets
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2021
Rural Household Production Units experience various difficulties preventing them from establishing themselves sustainably and competitively in the market. The Rural Markets project successfully applied the market systems development approach. It now aims to induce systemic changes and a scaling up of markets for producers in new regions of productive potential. Support of non-financial services combined with financial services will establish synergies between public and private actors.
Programme d’appui à une gouvernance agricole inclusive en Haïti (PAGAI)
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2029
Le programme PAGAI vise à améliorer l’accès de 55’000 exploitations familiales haïtiennes à un cadre politique et des services agricoles appropriés. Pour y arriver, le programme va accompagner les organisations des producteurs ruraux (organisations paysannes), qui seront renforcées dans leur gouvernance interne, dans leur rôle de concertation/négociation de services et dans leur capacité de défendre les intérêts et plaider pour les paysannes et paysans d’Haïti.
Cocoa value chain
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2023
Actors in the Central American cocoa value chain improve their productivity, establish public-private alliances, respect economic, social and cultural rights, and reduce their environmental impact. Thanks to the program 4,500 producer families will increase their net annual income by at least 10%, while 4,000 young adults and 2,000 women gain access to sustainable jobs. This will boost the local economy in the poor and peripheral areas in which cocoa is grown.
Crop Trust – Genebank Platform 2018
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2018
The Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) safeguards globally important collections of crop diversity critical for improving food and nutrition security. Genebanks require constant maintenance. The Crop Trust Endowment Fund ensures the long-term funding for the maintenance of these genebanks. The unique bilateral contribution by Switzerland contributes to safeguarding (and building up of) the Endowment Fund.
Strengthening the Right to Adequate Food, FIAN International
01.01.2018
- 31.10.2021
With 815 million undernourished people in 2017, the right to food as laid in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still not realized. For the past thirty years, FIAN International has raised awareness about people’s right to food worldwide and expanded spaces for civil society to hold governments more accountable. This project will promote effective participation of rights holders in food security and nutrition policies and governance mechanisms and be complemented by SDC support to the mandate of the UN Special rapporteur on the right to food.
Generating Rubber Opportunities project (GRO)
01.01.2018
- 30.09.2022
The production of natural rubber is a key livelihood activity of farmers in Mon and Kayin State and northern Tanintharyi region. CARE International is mandated to implement a Market Systems Development project to work with all market actors and particularly the support institutions (meso level) for improving information, market access and access to inputs for 25,000 farmers as well as improving working conditions of particularly women in rubber plantations.
Support to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)
01.01.2018
- 31.12.2021
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has been supporting the Climate and Clean Air Coalition since 2014. Today, the Coalition is a recognized platform bringing together country, inter-governmental and non-governmental partners to take action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. In the continuation of the programme, the Swiss contribution aims to build on previous success and achieve further emission reductions and increasing the climate resilience of poor population groups.
Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF)
01.12.2017
- 31.12.2021
ARTF is a coordinated on-budget financing mechanism for the state, administered by the World Bank. Its priority national investment projects focus on agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, education, health and governance. Since the initiation of the Trust Fund in 2002, Millions of Afghan women, men and children have gained access to services and improved their income. It also significantly contributed to the Afghan state’s capacity.
Livestock Development expanding from South to North in the South Caucasus
01.12.2017
- 31.08.2021
Livestock farming is the main economic activity for most poor households in rural areas of Armenia and Georgia. Through better access to services, inputs and markets, as well as effective management of natural resources, farmers in Armenia are expected to substantially improve their livelihood. Strengthening regional links and access to regional markets of animal and animal products will also make the livestock sector more profitable and increase its competitiveness, hereby contributing to higher incomes and employment for farmers in rural Armenia and Georgia.
Facility for Refugees, Migrants, Forced Displacement and Rural Stability (IFAD)
01.12.2017
- 31.12.2023
Switzerland is committed at the highest political level to help countries in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region coping with the refugee crisis. By co-financing two projects funded by IFAD (the International Fund for Agricultural Development) in Jordan and Lebanon, SDC will contribute to create sustainable livelihoods for thousands of Syrian refugees, and will also support host communities to increase their income and food security by improving the quality of their small ruminants and cattle, as well as their value in the market.