Our current food system contributes significantly to the loss of biodiversity, both through the production and food waste in Switzerland and through the importation of food and fodder. FiBL Switzerland and the Biovision Foundation, in collaboration with farmers and other stakeholders from politics, business and civil society, are developing a research project aimed at transforming our food system to make it more biodiversity-friendly.
The main objective is to study the social and ecological aspects of biodiversity-friendly food systems and to transform visions of sustainable practices into concrete actions. The project will develop tools to help farmers make decisions in favour of biodiversity. It will also identify the levers that can support or hinder changes towards a biodiversity-friendly food system.
The project integrates approaches from environmental modelling, rural sociology and geography, as well as agricultural economics to address the urgent need to harmonise food production and biodiversity protection. The results will address both scientific and social challenges by proposing implementable solutions for involving farmers in the protection of biodiversity and the design of sustainable food systems.
Project manager
