Core Contribution to Alliance for Sustainable Food Systems and Empowered Communities (SUFOSEC) 2025-2028

The international environment is characterised by numerous multiple crises. The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the escalation in the Middle East, food insecurity, debt burden and inflation, climate change and the energy crisis are all having direct impact on the world's population. They particularly affect the most vulnerable, mostly women and children and result in increasing humanitarian needs.

Accelerated change is accompanied by increased uncertainly: The world is becoming more fragmented, unstable and unpredictable. Whilst the vision to reach the Sustainable Development Goals remains, challenges including the accelerating global food and nutrition crisis, shrinking civic and humanitarian space, the erosion of rule of law, intensifying aremd conflicts, more frequent climate-related disasters, international migration and internal displacement, exacerbated demographics and an important gender gap hamper progress in reaching them and pose a main challenge for all actors engaged in Switzerland's International Cooperation. In the 26 countries of the Sufosec programme in Africa, Asia and Latin America, trends are particularly worrying when it comres to the right to food and nutrition (SDG 2), while women and children are disproprotionately affected by hunger. In this context, agro-ecology and inclusive local food systems continue to be central to strengthening the resilience of vulnerable people, smallholder farmers and partoralist communities.

Empowered communities realise their right to food and improve their livelihoods in times of climate crisis and fragility.

The following SUFOSEC Alliance member organisations contribute to the overall goal:

• Swissaid (with strategic partner Skat Foundation)
• Fastenaktion (with strategic partner Aqua Alimenta)
• Vivamos Mejor Switzerland
• Vétérinaires sans Frontières Suisse (VSF-Suisse)

Outcome 1: No Poverty

Since 2021, 1.5 million people (2023: 507'000) have improved their access to basic services (mainly animal health and WASH services), natural resources (access to land, forest and productive water) and economic resources (income diversification): For example, access to basic community services was improved for 385'000 people (52% female), predominatly provided through animal health services to pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa region. In addition, humanitarian aid was provided to 1.2 million people in 2023 alone.

Outcome 2: Zero Hunger

According to a Sufosec household survey conducted in 17 projects in 10 countries in 2021 and 2023, the food insecurity prevalence declined from 72% to 62% on average. In countries where food security has generally deteriorated (for ex. in Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Haiti), Sufosec achieved positive results thanks to agro-ecological and food systems interventions: Since 2021, 133'000 smallholders farmers (2023: 42'000) have introduced new agro-ecological farming practices, such as locally adapted seeds, crop rotation, agroforestry and livestock integration.

Outcome 3: Empowered Communities

The Allliance supports its partner organisations in the Global South in their empowerment efforts at the individual, community and organisational level: In 2023, 493'000 people (62% female) participated in life skill development activities, including nutrition literacy, improving the diet quality within their households. More than 1'000 community-based organisations were supported in their efforts to engage in policy dialogues, mainly at local level.

Outcome 4: Effective Civil Society Organisations, Partnerships

Strengthening the organisational capacities of the partner organisations and joint learning within the Alliance is pivotal to the Sufosec joint programme. Among the 300 partner organisations, 92% have improved their organisational capacities since 2021, mainly in the domains MEL, financial accountability, and governance.

On strengthening local civil society and national ownership, Sufosec conducted an assessment on empowering partnerships and further developed its locally-led development approach.

After conducting gender audits at Headtquarters level, the Alliance organisation have facilitated a whole series of gender mainstremaing webinars for all categories of staff.

Sufosec rolled out a joint monitoring, evaluation and learning system that is based on joint indicators, standardized data collection tools, and a joint software. Joint programme operations have been launchend in Chad, Colombia, Madagascar, Kenya, Central America. Since its start in 2021, the Sufosec Alliance clearly achieved additional value as a joint organisation.

1. INCLUSIVE LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS:
   People - all genders equally - contribute to inclusive local food systems and have improved their nutirition through accelerated agroecological transition.
2. CLIMATE-RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS:
   People - all gneders equally - manage and use their natural resources in a risk-in-formed, climate -resilient and sustainable way.
3. EMPOWERED CIVIL SOCIETY:
   Communities and Civil Society Organisations are empowered, organise themselves, influence policies, promote gender justice, and hold dty bearers accountable to respect, protect, and fulfil their human rights.

The role fo Swiss NGOs in the implementation of the Swiss IC Strategy 2025-28 shall be strenghtened through:

1. sharpening the narrative on the importance of the core contribution,

b. an inclusive policy dialogue,

c. locally led development, and

d. potential adaptations of programmes and approaches (reforms in the larger sense).