WFSC News

Our 45 members are full of ideas on how to drive change towards food and nutrition security, environmental health and social well-being for all in our world food system.

We are pleased to share our Annual Report 2023, which highlights our many research, education, and outreach activities focused on food system transformation.

As the RUNRES project enters its second phase of developing and now upscaling innovations for circular economies in the rural-urban nexus, private-public-partnerships will continue to play an important role.

New ways to measure nitrous oxide emissions from soils as well as detect invasive pests in vineyards are the foci of two new interdisciplinary projects starting in 2024. Both projects are funded by the Center’s Smart Sustainable Farming Research Program.

Updates from the Novel Protein for Food and Feed Flagship Project include the development of “calamari” rings made from microalgae and mung bean protein as well as a study on Singaporean consumers’ acceptance of microalgae-based foods.

The Center announces two new projects starting in 2024 focused on understanding how different crop rotation practices affect water and nitrogen balances as well as production. Both projects are funded by the Improving Sustainability of Agricultural and Food Systems across Key Environmental Metrics Research Program.  

Three new projects supported by the Future Food Initiative focus on various topics of health and nutrition. Adipose tissue expandability and probiotic bacteria functional ability will be investigated as well as new innovations for processing plant proteins.

Food Day @ETH brought more than 200 people with different backgrounds together to discuss food system transformation. The networking poster session gave young scientists a stage to present their innovative research on food system topics.

In a new study, an international consortium led by researchers at ETH Zurich, investigated the cascading impacts after two consecutive hurricanes (Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017) on smallholder banana farmers in Dominican Republic.

The Flagship Project Novel Proteins for Food and Feed aims to develop food innovations to provide new sources of sustainable and nutritious protein for a growing world population. Work continues on projects focused on urban food waste management with black soldier fly larvae, in Switzerland and Singapore.

The Flagship Project Enhancing Resilience in Food Systems seeks to directly contribute to food systems resilience by supporting decision-​making in practice through stakeholder participation and academic education. Several projects are ongoing in countries across Africa and in Switzerland.

Eating insects might make some people squeamish, but they are already part of the diet of millions of people worldwide. Researchers at ETH Zurich explored insects as source of dietary iron. Nikolin Hilaj and Diego Moretti present their findings in our new film.

Insect pests cause major crop damage and yield losses. ETH Zurich researcher Anna Spescha shares her work with beneficial soil organisms to control insect pests.

A multidisciplinary project, led by researchers at ETH Zurich, explored how organic bean production in North Macedonia can be optimized. Akanksha Singh presents findings from the project in a new video.

In a new video, ETH Zurich researcher Christian Andres presents how dynamic agroforestry can contribute to healthy, sustainable cocoa farms and the livelihoods of farmers.

We are pleased to share with you our Annual Report 2022, which highlights various research, education, and outreach activities focused on food system transformation.

A multidisciplinary project led by the AgroEcological Transition Group at ETH Zurich aims to understand the links between collective decision-​making and ecological footprints in coffee and soybean value chains.

The program funds interdisciplinary projects that together lay the foundation to better understand the sustainability of relevant European cropping systems and improve their environmental footprint.

Professors and senior researchers at ETH Zurich are invited to submit research projects involving at least two research groups and, ideally, combine an agronomic perspective with a technical, computational, data-​based, or socio-​economic perspective.

Eaten directly or in plant-based meat alternatives, incorporating pulses into diets offers a source of more sustainable protein for human nutrition. New research at ETH Zurich aims to speed up the breeding of new varieties of dry peas for different Swiss climates.

Projects continued across Africa to improve the resilience of the city region food systems. Here are some highlights from 2022.

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.