Swissaid campaigns for climate-friendly ‘superfoods’
In 18 countries, hunger has increased since 2015
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
To mark World Food Day on Monday, Swiss NGO Swissaid is sounding the alarm: hunger is not going away. The 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that 735 million people are undernourished, compared with 572 million in 2017.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Español
es
Swissaid aboga por los “superalimentos” respetuosos con el clima
The number two goal of the United Nations Agenda – to eliminate hunger by 2030 – seems to be slipping further away, Swissaid said in a statement on Saturday. In 14 countries, progress is virtually at a standstill.
In 18 countries, hunger has increased since 2015, and in 58 countries it is already certain that the Zero Hunger objective will not be achieved in time. Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly hard hit.
In addition to climate-related crises, armed conflicts and disruptions to supply chains, the structure and functioning of food systems are a major problem: in many places, they are neither sustainable nor prepared for the consequences of climate change.
This is where Swissaid’s work comes in. Projects are helping local people to switch to climate-resilient, local, social and sustainable agriculture.
“Agroecology projects make a major contribution to greater food sovereignty,” said Markus Allemann, director of Swissaid.
Knowledge of local cereals and vegetables adapted to climatic conditions is an important element in improving food security, the NGO continued. “Unfortunately, this knowledge is often forgotten, and many indigenous varieties that were once consumed are gradually being replaced by imported products. Wheat, for example, is gaining ground at the expense of millet in several regions of Africa.”
In order to make forgotten knowledge about local varieties public again, Swissaid has published the brochure “Agrobiodiversity on the PlateExternal link”. The brochure highlights the diversity of cereal varieties and legumes in various countries in the South, as well as their nutritional richness and key role in food security. The recipes with superfoods contained in the booklet are also possible solutions for a diverse diet adapted to climate change.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
This content was published on
There is "no Europe à la carte", declared the deputy prime minister of Luxembourg, where the European Commission is briefing member states on the state of negotiations with Switzerland.
Almost 200 people die a year in Switzerland doing sport
This content was published on
Every year, an average of 185 people die while playing sport in Switzerland. Most of the fatal sports accidents occur in mountain sports.
Swiss regulator tells UBS to strengthen its crisis plans
This content was published on
UBS must improve its emergency plans following its takeover of Credit Suisse to ensure the bank can be wound down or sold without risking financial stability and taxpayer cash, Swiss regulator FINMA said on Tuesday.
New minimum sentences for first-time speeders in Switzerland
This content was published on
A driver caught speeding in Ticino has received a conditional fine instead of the conditional prison sentence imposed at first instance.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.