Swiss Forum on Rural Advisory Services: Its Legacy
30 April 2025 - What started in 2010 as a gathering of like-minded experts turned into a 15-year journey of co-creation, debate, and mutual learning. As the Swiss Forum on Rural Advisory Services (SFRAS) officially wraps up, we look back at its key contributions — and forward to how climate change, privatization, and digitalization are reshaping rural advisory services. It’s not just a farewell; it’s a call to reimagine how we collaborate and share knowledge in agriculture and beyond.
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The concluding meeting of the Swiss Forum on Rural Advisory Services (SFRAS) took place at the SDC offices on 30 April 2025. During this final gathering, members of the group addressed 3 mega trends impact rural advisory services: privatization, digitalization and climate change. The objective was to generate some insights on how privatization, climate change and digitalization would (a) create new expectations, challenges and opportunities related to RAS and (b) what can be done to respond to those challenges and create an enabling environment. The points below summarize key aspects resulting from the World Café discussion.
Turning Mega Trends into Meaningful Change for Rural Advisory Services
At its final meeting, the Swiss Forum on Rural Advisory Services (SFRAS) looked ahead. Members of the network came together to discuss how three major global trends—privatization, digitalization, and climate change—are already shaping the way rural advisory services (RAS) work, and what that means for the future.
The goal was to better understand how these trends are creating new expectations and challenges—and more importantly, what can be done to respond in a way that helps Stakeholders adapt and thrive.
Through an open and interactive World Café discussion, participants shared real-world experiences and practical ideas. What follows is a summary of key takeaways and insights—pointing to where RAS might be headed next, and what we can do to stay ready.
Mega Trend: Climate Change
The Challenges & Opportunities
Climate change is making weather harder to predict, and that’s putting a lot of pressure on traditional farming. Many smallholder farmers, especially those without formal education, are struggling as old methods no longer work like they used to. Indigenous knowledge is being overlooked, even though it still offers useful insights. Sometimes, advice given to farmers doesn’t fit the changing context, and the weather increasingly swings from drought to flooding in the same season. This makes farming feel like a no-win situation. At the same time, climate change may weaken community bonds, making people more vulnerable. But there are also opportunities. If we combine local knowledge with science and formal education, we can come up with new ways to adapt. Promoting climate-resilient crops and learning together regularly through Rural Advisory Services (RAS) can help farmers find practical solutions and even open new markets.
The responses
To effectively respond to the climate-related challenges facing rural advisory services (RAS), we must embrace a holistic and inclusive approach grounded in co-learning, innovation, and context-specific adaptation. Learning in the field alongside farmers, regularly sharing experiences among RAS actors, and promoting climate-resilient practices such as agroecology and the use of improved, climate-adapted crop varieties are key. Integrating accurate climate forecasts and adaptive mechanisms into RAS is essential, as is leveraging digital tools for real-time information sharing and stronger collaboration across sectors. However, digital solutions must remain accessible and locally relevant, avoiding over-reliance on quick technological fixes. Building climate resilience requires acknowledging social, economic, and environmental dynamics, while resisting the commodification of knowledge—making sure that valuable information remains open and accessible to all. Ultimately, we need to break down silos, foster transdisciplinary cooperation, and invest in scalable, farmer-driven innovations that truly reflect local realities and aspirations.
Mega Trend: Privatization
The Challenges & Opportunities
It was noted that privatization poses a significant risk to disadvantaged farmers being excluded from RAS if not well regulated and guaranteed by the state. However, often regulation is weak and public RAS are often completely depending on external funding which negatively affects their performance. It was agreed that a conducive environment for effective RAS needs various service providers offering a choice to the famers depending on their needs. However, different drivers and incentives need to be considered. While private RAS is driven by its interests and economic incentives state-driven rural advisory services is also driven by interests of the government. Privatization also forces practitioners to change the perspective. A progressive RAS system puts farmers as private entrepreneurs who have access to knowledge systems at the centre rather seeing them as pitiful recipient of services for quick fixes.
The responses
To build stronger and fairer Rural Advisory Services (RAS), we need to shift from donor-dependent, top-down models to more farmer-driven systems that treat farmers as entrepreneurs with real access to knowledge. In many places, public-funded RAS systems are flawed—exclusive, sometimes politically biased, and not built to last. A better approach is to have a mix of service providers so farmers can choose what fits their needs. Digital tools can help bridge long distances, reach remote areas, and cut costs. But we also need smart regulation. As the private sector grows and big players enter the space, the question is how to overcome extension biases? Regulator needs to come in to provide key performance indicators, needs decision taking on solid technical understanding and evidence from production experience; digitalisation can help to make evidence available at a large scale and reaching remote producers with RAS by cutting costs of service delivery.
Mega Trend: Digitalization
The Challenges & Opportunities
All participants agreed that digitalization is having a strong impact on the modus operandi of RAS. Digital solutions are attractive due to their lower transaction costs, their cost-effectiveness (reaching a large group with minimal resources), the scaling up potential (increasing quickly the number of people participating/making use of the digital opportunity) and the spillover potential (one screen = multiple users). However, key challenges include the closed and targeted nature of digital conversations, the shorter attention span, the challenges of networking in digital spaces and quality assurance.
The responses
It was agreed that support through physical interaction will remain important. However, the role will mostly change with the extensionist rather being a facilitator and knowledge broker than a technical instructor. With numerous digital platforms and digital services offers in place it is less about missing information but more about choosing the right information in terms of content & quality. The rise of KI will further contribute to this development. Given the shorter attention span, it was also agreed that there is a need to pay more attention concerning how the content is provided and less attention on the content itself. Finally, when discussing digitalization in RAS young people should be invited to the table as they know newer digital tools most likely well and are keen to explore them further.
What 15 Years of SFRAS Taught Us
As part of its legacy, we’ve compiled three key lessons learned of SFRAS that could inspire other communities and networks - especially those looking to improve their approach to membership, facilitation, and reconnecting to the raison d’être (reason to be):
1. Consistency Builds Community: The Power of Showing Up for 15 Years
SFRAS members met almost twice a year—with only a few exceptions, for 15 years. This steady rhythm of interaction, combined with an increasingly diverse membership, became a defining feature of the network: it reflects not only a high level of professionalism, but also a shared enthusiasm and long-term commitment to strengthening rural advisory services.
- What do we take away? We’ve learned that consistent engagement is key for such a network. Regular interaction builds trust, strengthens relationships, and allows ideas to evolve over time - particularly in today’s changing and challenging world. Engagement doesn’t have to follow one fixed format. It can be in-person, virtual, structured, or informal. What matters is creating inclusive and participatory spaces where members feel valued and motivated to contribute. As the SFRAS secretariat, Helvetas has remained committed to facilitation approaches that cultivate shared ownership and sustained collaboration. Learn more about our network facilitation processes here.
2. Diversity Isn’t Just Representation—It’s the Foundation
From as early as the second meeting in 2011 at Nestlé HQ in Vevey, it was clear that the diverse membership was a major strength. Diversity of membership grew with the years, managing to include representatives from the Civil Society, Private Sector, Researchers, State Administration, Academia and Consulting Companies.
- What do we take away? When networks include actors from across sectors—civil society, private, public, academic, and research—this broad base of perspectives leads to richer dialogue, stronger legitimacy, and solutions that are more holistic and grounded
3. Downscale to Uplift: How we rediscovered the strength of SFRAS
Between 2013 and 2018, SFRAS took on a more intense and strategic role—contributing to the GFRAS Global Meeting (2013), shaping the Hanoi Statement (2015), and leading the Advocacy Webinar (2018). The Hanoi Statement, for instance, was grounded in seven studies on Rural Advisory Services (RAS) across Asia and the insights of 68 RAS experts. This period placed growing pressure on members to deliver results and meet strategic commitments. By 2018, members reflected that SFRAS functioned best as a network space—one that fostered informal exchange and peer learning—rather than as a high-stakes advocacy platform.
- What do we take away? This shift served as an important reminder: in an increasingly demanding and competitive world, people need spaces where they can connect without the constant pressure to produce or perform. Sometimes, scaling down is the key to lifting up what truly matters—relationships, reflection, and relevance.
Further Information
Resources, including documents and presentations from SFRAS, will remain publicly accessible on the website of SDC's Agriculture and Food Systems thematic network at https://www.sdc-foodsystems.ch/en/sfras.