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The influence of agriculture and the food system on the climate has been neglected in climate negotiations thus far. In recent years, Biovision has been advocating for an agroecological transformation to address climate change. It was also present this year at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. We spoke to Tanja Carrillo from our Policy & Advocacy team about whether this conference has brought us a step closer to climate protection.

Together towards a sustainable food system – How do we get there? At the 2022 Biovision Symposium we learned about solutions and challenges for a food system of the future. Here you find impressions from the event and info about “food movements” that strengthen local communities and promote a shift towards organic agriculture.

Creating a more sustainable food system is an urgent task for all of society. A citizens’ council, composed to represent the views of the Swiss public, shows how it can be achieved.

For 20 years, Esther Lupafya and Rachel Bezner Kerr have been working together for healthy nutrition in Malawi. In this interview, the founders of Biovision’s partner organisation “Soils, Food and Healthy Communities” (SFHC) talk about gender norms and the power of knowledge exchange and participatory research.

Higher food prices, halted grain deliveries, extreme droughts: the food situation has dramatically worsened for millions of people worldwide this year. It is particularly precarious in sub-Saharan Africa, where our organization runs around 50 projects. How is Biovision working to counteract the crisis?

In southwestern Ethiopia, rural households are struggling with soil degradation and crop failures. Working together, they are taking measures to limit soil erosion and also to diversify their sources of income, in order to protect themselves from crises.

Former Biovision Programme Officer Shruti Patel was elected to the Foundation Board at the end of June. In her new role, she will continue to support Biovision’s work and put first-class scientific research into practice.

Soil is the fundament for life on Earth, provides food and feed for all creatures above and below ground and plays a major role in climate protection! Soils bind atmospheric CO2, absorb rain water while prevent flooding, store water in long dry seasons, and buffer the extreme adverse impacts of the fast changing climate.

Scouts learn how to protect the environment and take care of nature. CLEVER is now showing them at the “mova” national Scout camp how they can also behave in an environmentally conscious way in their everyday lives with sustainable consumption.

Reducing organic production to fight the food crisis would be disastrous. Much more urgent for overcoming the crisis is the transformation to a sustainable food system.

Ten years ago, the fields of Patrick Maive and Joyce Wangari hardly yielded anything. That all changed when they set out to make their soil fertile again, with the help of Kenyan researchers.

The research of Marcus Maeder, main initiator of the Biovision project Sounding Soil, shows scientifically for the first time: the biodiversity and intensity of underground life can be measured acoustically.

Too complex, too time consuming, not implementable on a large scale – these are common prejudices against agroecology. Nevertheless, research results are increasingly showing that agroecology provides a convincing path to a sustainable food system. But one crux is how to fund it. How Biovision is now getting things moving.

Beryl Atieno Munika has lived with a physical handicap since birth. As a young woman she was dependent on her parents. Then she attended a course in organic farming and took fate into her own hands.

The soil beneath our feet forms the basis for life, food production and biodiversity. Public awareness of the importance of this key resource is meager, however. This is why we are dedicating the focus of the first half of 2022 to soil.

Within arable fields and soils rages a battle to the death. At least in the push-pull fields of East Africa, beneficial insects are gaining the upper hand over pests. Decisive is communication among plants and between plants and insects.

In the very dry areas of northern Kenya people are increasingly suffering from the consequences of climate change. Those most affected are pastoralist peoples. In Isiolo County, Biovision has been supporting a project by Vétérinaieres sans Frontières to introduce dromedaries. A picture story about two camel keepers who support their families with the proceeds from the sale of milk.

In 2021, the future of our food systems was hotly debated and sustainable solutions sought. In this interview, Biovision President Hans R. Herren and Executive Director Frank Eyhorn explain what came of these discussions and which levers Biovision will be pulling in the coming year. What progress towards sustainable food systems could be achieved in 2021? Hans R. Herren and Frank Eyhorn from Biovision in an interview.

The Biovision Symposium 2021 was all about diversity. Diversity has many positive effects: from protection against the effects of climate change to pesticide reduction and healthier food.

At the end of October, Biovision’s Policy and Advocacy team travelled to Glasgow to represent Biovision’s position at the United Nations Climate Summit (COP26). They brought along the latest insights into agroecology and climate plus the goal of making sustainable, agroecological agriculture part of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.