AFS Network update: What's cooking this year
The SDC Agriculture and Food Systems (AFS) Network held its network update webinar on 22 April 2026, bringing together members from across regions to share news, review survey feedback, and look ahead at priorities for the year.
New home: MS Teams The network has transitioned to MS Teams as its primary platform for member exchanges, news sharing, and collaboration. Members who have not yet registered are encouraged to join via the network website.
The AFS website continues to serve as the central repository for knowledge products, guidance tools, and past event documentation.
Recent activities - The bi-monthly webinar series now runs in two formats: Thoughts for Food (practice and project focused) and Science for Food (evidence and research focused). The last session covered Integrated Pest Management, and the next is scheduled for 6 May on seeds governance. The Resilience Thinking Lab series has concluded, with all recordings and materials available on the website. A first “A Shared Table” session was also piloted as an open format for members to present their own work to the network.
What members told us - A survey completed for now by over 150 members provided a snapshot of the network's reach and interests. Members are primarily active across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and at global level. The network is valued most as a space for information exchange, and members prioritise webinars and short courses as their preferred format, followed by guidance documents and thematic discussions.
Looking ahead - Planned activities for 2026 include a nutrition webinar series, a Knowledge Fair showcasing innovations and solutions across regions, a private sector engagement series, and continued development of the Thematic Integration Briefs and How-To guidance tools. Work under the Green Nexus initiative will intensify, with a focus on regional anchoring in collaboration with the Water and Climate/Environment networks.
The Green Nexus - Launched in late 2025, the Green Nexus is a cross-network initiative that recognises the interdependencies between food systems, water, and climate and ecosystems. It aims to support more systemic, collaborative approaches to development that maximise co-benefits and reduce trade-offs, particularly in a context of shrinking ODA space and growing environmental pressures.
View the webinar sildes for more details on all these points:
For more information or to propose a contribution to the network, contact the AFS Network team at deza.afsnw@eda.admin.ch