Every two months, on Wednesday morning at 9.00 CET, the A&FS Network organizes a short, informal session to share some thoughts for food with network members and anyone else interested.
This series provides an overview of interesting news in the area of Food Systems and takes participants on a deep-dive into two specific topics each time. “Thoughts for Food” has a changing thematic or geographical focus, while “Science for Food” concentrates on evidence generation and research in the field of agriculture and food systems. There will also be a space for discussion and exchange with other participants. Join to feed your brain with some thoughts and science for food!
Next Session
6 May 2026
Thoughts for Food 26
Short, informal session to share some thoughts for food with A&FS Network members and anyone else interested
Renforcer la résilience (Petra Bonometti, WFP / Paterne Petipe & Oliver Hughes, Mercy Corps)
Renforcement de la résilience des systèmes alimentaires et des populations en Afrique de l’Ouest Petra Bonometti, WFP
Approches programmatiques pour renforcer la résilience dans les zones fragiles et affectées par les conflits Paterne Petipe & Oliver Hughes, Mercy Corps
Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture in Cambodia Setha Rath, Swisscontact
New Tools for Understanding Food System Policy Coherence Stella Nordhagen, GAIN
Bioprocessing of organic foods and fruits by eco-friendly edible coatings to preserve these foods for longer periods Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salem, Sadat City University, Egypt
Enabling the Small and Growing Businesses with low-carbon and climate-resilient solutions Javlon Hamdamov, Aga Khan Foundation, Tajikistan
Water for life in IWRM and Multiple Use Water Services (MUS) Dr Barbara Van Koppen, IWMI/CGIAR, Colombo
Food systems governance – is it the game changer? Ruedi Lüthi, Head of Water, Food and Climate, Helvetas
Entrepreneurs for Rural Access showing agroecology videos to farmers in local languages Blessings Flao, Access Agriculture
Pastoralisme sahélien (Guillaume Duteurtre) / le droit à l'alimentation (Salomon Nikièma)
Le pastoralisme sahélien face au changement climatique Guillaume Duteurtre, agroéconomiste au Cirad et Directeur de l’UMR Selmet
Promouvoir le droit à l'alimentation dans la région du Sahel Salomon Nikièma, Directeur Pays Mali et Coordinateur des activités transfrontalières chez VSF
Accelerating Agroecology transition through Participatory Rural Advisory services: An action learning process in four countries in Africa and Latin America Carl Larsen, GFRAS
Organic Influencer Marketing - Improving Market Access for Farmers and Strengthening Demand for Organic Products through Social Media in Kenya Selina Uhlmann, FiBL
ICT for agroecology in Tanzania (A. Hilbeck) / digital solutions to improve market access (S. Munguti)
ICT4Agroecology: a participatory research methodology for agroecological field research in Tanzania Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, Senior Scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich
Digital solution delivery - from farmers to markets Samuel Munguti, founder and CEO of Shamba Pride recording not available
Integrated Climate Resilience (T. Machiwenyika) / Landscape Approach in Displacement Settings (J. Schure)
An Integrated Climate Resilience Approach from Southern Africa: Actions from the Field Tiwonge Machiwenyika and Sandra Hakim, WFP Resilience and Climate Unit, Regional Bureau for Southern Africa
Introduction to GLADS – Guidance for a Landscape Approach in Displacement Settings Jolien Schure and Paolo Cerutti, Senior researchers with CIFOR-ICRAF
UN Food System Summit +2 (C. Blank) / empowering youth (D. Magero)
UN Food System Summit +2 : call for action – a push to transform food systems and accelerate action for the SDGs Christina Blank, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN Organisations in Rome
Empowering youth – challenges and positive youth development programmes Deogratious Magero, Youth Engagement Manager at CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International)
Rebuilding Ukranian dairy sector (V. Shutkevych) / Food Systems Summit (A. Gläsel, M. Egermann)
Ukraine – Rebuilding the dairy sector after Russian occupation Viktor Shutkevych, National Programme Officer at the Swiss Embassy in Kyiv
Opportunities and limitations of international mechanisms to foster just transformation. The case of the 2021 Food Systems Summit Astrid Gläsel and Markus Egermann, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)
Potential of the 10 Elements of Agroecology (Edmundo Barrios) / push pull technology (Amanuel Tamiru)
Harnessing the potential of the 10 Elements of Agroecology to facilitate agrifood systems transformation Edmundo Barrios, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division
Push-pull agricultural management technique Amanuel Tamiru. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
The Biodiversity Convention’s COP15 (Christian Schwarzer) / critical view on the SDGs (Tobias Haller)
Feedback on the negotiations, key challenges, results and way forward after the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15s Christian Schwarzer, co-founder of GYBN and Youth Ambassador for the UN Decade on Biodiversity
Sustainable for Whom? A critical view on the SDGs Tobias Haller, Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Bern
Agroecological Learning Journey 2021 – 2024: Results to date and next steps Sarah Mader, SWISSAID Senior Advisor Agroecology and Coordinator of Sufosec Learning Group Agroecology
How to combine agrobiodiversity, nutrition, and smallholder farming with improving rural livelihoods and climate change adaptation? Amritbir Riar, Senior Scientist, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
Organic vs. Conventional Farmer Crisis responses (D. Amudavi) / Private Sector Capacity Development (P. Aerni)
Organic versus Conventional Farmer Crisis responses: implications under COVID and Russian war in Ukraine Dr. David Amudavi, Executive Director of Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT)
Institutional Framework Conditions for the Promotion of Private Sector Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Philipp Aerni, Director of the Centre for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS)
Playful approach of spreading agreocology (G. Bhullar) / IPES's special report “Another Perfect Storm?" (N. Jacob)
Snakes and Ladders on the way to Agroecology - playful approach of spreading the understaning of agreocology in India and Tanzania Gurbir Singh Bhullar, Professor of Sustainable Agroecosystems, BFH-HAFL
IPES's special report “Another Perfect Storm?" on the factors which have made many parts of the world vulnerable to market shocks Nick Jacob, IPES
Conflict in Ukraine (F. Greb) / Food System Country profiles (C. Chege, C. Béné)
The conflict in Ukraine in the current global context Friederike Greb (World Food Programme)
Food System Country profiles for transforming food systems towards sustainability: Ethiopia, Honduras, Bangladesh Christine Chege and Chris Béné (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT)
