Sustainable food production

Present situation worldwide and in Switzerland

With its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sends a clear signal in favour of a sustainable food system. SDG 2 and SDG 12 in particular address this issue (SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns). Industry-oriented European research in the food sector has derived six strategic goals for implementation (see e.g. EIT Food and Food 2030 Programme). By adopting the Agenda 2030, the international community has established a new global frame of reference, which also guides sustainable development in Switzerland. A first analysis shows that the Agenda 2030 and its goals are well anchored in Switzerland and identifies remaining challenges to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Implications for Switzerland

There is a need for action in Switzerland as regards food research along the entire value chain as well as SDG 2 and 12, which are especially likely to benefit from food technological developments. Key challenges include: (1) Growing use of resources far beyond our planet’s capacity and resilience, shifting the environmental burden to supplier countries; (2) Nitrogen pollution and loss of biodiversity caused by heavy use of crop protection products and antibiotics that do not yet meet environmental goals in agriculture; (3) Malnutrition favouring diseases such as diabetes, obesity or cardio-vascular disorders, which are responsible for around 80% of Swiss healthcare expenditures. The “Foresight Study” published by the ETH Zurich’s World Food System Centre has identified key issues in working toward a sustainable food system, which food technological measures may contribute to solving:

• Energy and nutrient use efficiency along food value chains
• Reducing food waste and losses in food value chains
• Sustainable diets
• Resistance to antibiotics
• Impact assessment of local vs. global food production

The Swiss food sector numbers around 2200 businesses (98% of which are SMEs). Almost all of them acknowledge and address issues of sustainability in their targets and objectives. With around 62‘000 direct jobs and annual sales of roughly 25 billion CHF, they represent 5.3% of Swiss GDP.