SAF adopts a holistic food systems approach to address urban food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture, focusing on two secondary cities each in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Rwanda. Our work emphasizes increasing the availability and demand for nutritious foods produced through agroecological practices, fostering nutrition-sensitive value chains, and strengthening governance and local capacity. 

Key initiatives include creating food systems platforms to bring together stakeholders from governance, civil society, and the private sector for collaborative decision-making. SAF also strengthens farmers’ hubs and value chains to ensure nutritious food is accessible, affordable, and sustainable. Through social behavior change communication, we promote nutritional literacy and healthier consumption behaviors. 

By monitoring urban food systems and scaling successful practices, SAF contributes to inclusive, resilient urban food systems that enhance health, sustainability, and livelihoods while addressing the broader challenges of climate and urbanization. 

Currently we are implementing the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) Nutrition in City Ecosystems (NICE) project which connects the demand and supply side of food systems, engages women and youth – including through social business models – and builds local governance capacity initially in two secondary cities each in Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda. 

To know more about NICE- https://nice.ethz.ch/outcomes/ 

Disclaimer: This portfolio description was originally written by SFSA and has been modified and adapted here.