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.
Access to food: the SDC's commitment to sustainable food systems

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
Improving farm productivity in Georgia through dual vocational education and training

01.09.2018
- 31.08.2022
Agriculture is Georgia's most important sector. However, farming remains uncompetitive as farmers' skills are out of step with the job market and technological developments. Switzerland is continuing to support vocational education and training to improve productivity, farm income and the employment situation for students of agriculture.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Georgia |
Vocational training Agriculture & food security Employment & economic development
Vocational training
Agricultural services & market
Rural development
|
01.09.2018 - 31.08.2022 |
CHF 7'303'140 |
Improved Access to Markets for Female and Male Fresh Fruits and Vegetable (FFV) Small Scale Producers

01.12.2017
- 30.11.2021
With focus on private sector-led agriculture and agribusiness, this program pursues systemic change in the agriculture sector and supports business modalities that favor small scale producers in the occupied Palestinian territory. The overall goal is to contribute to build a resilient economy with equitable agricultural growth, whilst contributing to protect small scale producers’ entitlements to natural resources and access to markets.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Palestinian Authority |
Agriculture & food security
Agricultural development
Agricultural services & market
Agricultural policy
|
01.12.2017 - 30.11.2021 |
CHF 4'700'000 |
Higher Income in the South Caucasus Thanks to Competitive Agricultural Products

01.04.2017
- 31.03.2022
Livestock farming is an important source of income for a large part of the rural population in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. But many farmers live from subsistence farming and produce just enough food for their own needs. The aims of the project are to strengthen smallholder farms and to provide them with access to markets. This way, farmers can sell their honey, meat, cheese and wool products, and sustainably increase their incomes.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
South Caucasus |
Employment & economic development Agriculture & food security
SME development
Agricultural development
|
01.04.2017 - 31.03.2022 |
CHF 5'100'000 |
Reform and Development of Markets, Value Chains and Producers’ Organisations

01.03.2017
- 31.08.2021
Private sector-led agriculture and agribusiness in the Palestinian occupied territory (oPT) can play a key role in building a resilient economy towards economic growth and in safeguarding rights and entitlements to natural resources and markets. This program aims at improving income and productivity in the agriculture sector, through improved access to markets, increased share of local market, enhanced competitiveness and profitability of Palestinian agribusinesses.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Palestinian Authority |
Agriculture & food security
Agricultural development
Agricultural policy
Agricultural co-operatives & farmers’ organisations
|
01.03.2017 - 31.08.2021 |
CHF 3'000'000 |
Sustainably managed pastures and healthy animals: Mongolia's 'green gold'

01.01.2017
- 30.09.2021
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the number of livestock in Mongolia has nearly tripled – to the detriment of the country's grasslands. The SDC is supporting an array of measures to encourage the sustainable use of pastureland, and to improve animal health and the marketing of livestock products. These efforts are helping to safeguard the livelihoods of nomadic herder families.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Mongolia |
Agriculture & food security Employment & economic development
Agricultural land resources
Agricultural co-operatives & farmers’ organisations
SME development
Agricultural policy
|
01.01.2017 - 30.09.2021 |
CHF 8'676'000 |
Supporting livestock traceability in the South Caucasus

15.06.2016
- 31.12.2021
Identifying where animals have come from and recording information about their health is essential in modern agriculture to prevent the spread of diseases and stop products from diseased animals reaching the market. A system to ensure traceability will help to improve the incomes of farmers in the South Caucasus by increasing both herd productivity and the producers’ access to markets.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
South Caucasus |
Agriculture & food security
Agriculture value-chain development (til 2016)
|
15.06.2016 - 31.12.2021 |
CHF 5'935'000 |
Sustainable water and pasture management to alleviate the plight of Ethiopian pastoralists

01.06.2015
- 31.12.2021
Drought, fodder scarcity and conflicts over natural resources make life difficult for pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. The SDC has taken various measures to improve their food security and their resilience to crisis situations, ranging from the rehabilitation of pastureland and water points to the introduction of land use plans and the diversification of income sources for women.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Ethiopia |
Agriculture & food security Conflict & fragility Climate change and environment
Agricultural land resources
Household food security
Conflict prevention
Disaster risk reduction DRR
|
01.06.2015 - 31.12.2021 |
CHF 8'653'920 |
Livestock Development in the South of Armenia

01.09.2014
- 31.08.2021
In the provinces of Syunik and Vayots Dzor in southern Armenia, the agricultural sector mostly comprises subsistence farming where farmers are barely able to support their households. This project aims to help farmers increase their milk and meat production, and thus their incomes, by supporting local veterinary services (to improve animal health), facilitating access to milk and meat markets, and promoting the sharing of know-how among farmers.
Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
---|---|---|---|
Armenia |
Agriculture & food security
Agricultural development
Agricultural research
Agricultural services & market
|
01.09.2014 - 31.08.2021 |
CHF 10'995'756 |
Youth-Inclusive Rural Finance (YIRF)
01.09.2025
- 31.08.2028
Millions of Tanzanian young people living in rural areas, in particular young women, are affected by vulnerable employment. Building on successful Swiss experience in youth employment, this initiative aims at increasing gainful self-employment through enhanced financial inclusion. It will support the design, market entrance and upscaling of innovative digital financial products and services tailored to rural youth, including female youth. In order to ensure scale and sustainability, a partnership with the private sector will be developed.
Horn of Africa: One Health Units for Humans, Environment, Animals and Livelihoods
01.09.2024
- 30.06.2032
The project aims at improving the well-being of targeted pastoral communities challenged with inadequate access to basic health/veterinary services and environmental conditions in Somalia, Ethiopia and Northern Kenya through integrated health service delivery for both pastoralists and their livestock. The project will contribute to stability and vulnerability’s reduction of citizens in the region, thereby reducing their displacement/migration which is in the interest of Switzerland and the international community.
Programme d’appui à la commercialisation du bétail en Afrique de l’Ouest
01.07.2023
- 31.12.2028
Dans la région ouest africaine, le secteur de l’élevage est une grande opportunité d’intégration économique et de création de richesses pour les populations et les pays. En complément au soutien au secteur dans les pays prioritaires, ce programme vise le renforcement de la chaine de valeur régionale des produits animaux au profit des éleveurs. L’accent est mis sur le renforcement du secteur privé et l’amélioration des politiques et pratiques régionales d’échanges en produits animaux.
Global Measurement of Diet Quality
01.01.2023
- 31.12.2025
Diets are the number one risk factor in the global burden of disease and multiple forms of malnutrition co-exist with overweight and obesity being the fastest growing form, particularly among poor populations in developing countries. Routinely collected information on Diet Quality is necessary to better understand dietary trends, help to create awareness, and inform policies to improve diets and health outcomes. Therefore, SDC supports an international initiative to develop diet quality measurements.