The World Food System Center of ETH Zurich and Bayer launch a partnership focused on sustainable agricultural systems and production practices. Bayer is supporting several interdisciplinary research projects of the World Food System Center with a total donation of 1.1 million Swiss francs over the next four years.
In order to develop solutions to major food challenges the world is facing, the World Food System Center of ETH Zurich launches a new research program, supported by Bayer, focusing on improving sustainability of agricultural and food systems across key environmental metrics. The goal is to understand the benefits and tradeoffs of various measures in agricultural systems and production practices while maintaining the production potential and strengthening overall resilience of the agricultural system towards climate impacts and biodiversity.
Research for the future of agriculture
Around the globe, agricultural and food systems are facing major challenges. Future agri-food systems must provide enough healthy and affordable food for a growing world population as well as deliver a sufficient economic benefit for farmers. At the same time, climate change, increasing scarcity of natural resources, and deteriorating soil health and biodiversity all pose major stress on the entire food system.
Food production, therefore, needs sufficient yields of good quality while substantially reducing the environmental risks and footprints. Such production requires promotion of solutions that are tailored to the local conditions, cropping systems, and farmers’ needs. Balancing these trade-offs is necessary to secure the production potential of agriculture and farming systems in the long term.
World Food System Center of ETH Zurich and Bayer start partnership aimed at improving sustainability of agricultural and food systems
(f.l.t.r.) Prof. Dr. Detlef Günther, Vice President for Research ETH Zurich, Dr. Rolf Christian Becker, Global Head of Partnerships – Academic Institutions Bayer, Axel Steiger, CEO Bayer Schweiz, Natasha Santos, Head of Global SA&SP Bayer Crop Science, Prof. Dr. Robert Finger, Chair World Food System Center ETH Zurich, Nicole Borel, Head of Communications & Public Affairs Bayer Schweiz, Christian Bogen, Stakeholder Strategy & Affairs Bayer Crop Science, Martijn Sonnevelt, Executive Director World Food System Center ETH Zurich
Special focus on environmental footprint
The partnership enables new interdisciplinary research projects that will specifically aim to identify sustainable production practices and agricultural systems covering all sustainability dimensions, explore them along key metrics, and further improve their sustainability by minimizing tradeoffs with special focus on the environmental footprint and risks of production. A key component of the partnership is on collaboration and knowledge-sharing between research and practice as well as interdisciplinary, solution-oriented research approaches for major crops grown in Europe.
Starting in 2023, the World Food System Center will identify the first research projects through a call for proposals. The funded interdisciplinary projects are expected to yield insights on pathways to reduce the environmental impact of food systems using a holistic perspective. The World Food System Center and Bayer look forward to sharing the results with the agriculture sector, other research institutions, companies, and the public. In the future, other industry partners may also participate in the research activities
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2021, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 44.1 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 5.3 billion euros.
www.bayer.com
The World Food System Center at ETH Zurich was established in 2011 to support new cross-disciplinary and solution-oriented research that addresses the key challenges facing our food system. It brings together over 50 groups from different research areas at ETH, Eawag and Empa whose research and teaching contribute to sustainable agricultural and food systems. The Center uses a systemic approach that encompasses the entire food system and involves partners and stakeholders from various fields. The Center's multidisciplinary expertise and its diverse and long-standing experience in developing and implementing partnership approaches provide the ideal basis for long-term and successful collaboration.
www.worldfoodsystem.ethz.ch