How much longer will the Swiss food sector withstand the challenges of climate change?

Developing resilience to the impacts of changing climatic conditions in the food supply sector is an intricate and complex challenge that the whole world is tackling by combining both short-term and long-term strategies.

But despite climate change, the Swiss food sector is proving to be relatively resilient, according to the Food Security Report released by the Federal Office for National Economic Supply, albeit with some concern for the coming decades.

The Swiss food supply is beginning to struggle. 

As defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), food security is achieved when a country has constant access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. 

Switzerland's arable land area corresponds to about 40 percent of its entire territory. But although the Swiss territory is relatively small, most of its area is devoted to organic farming, even though, this crop production has been seriously threatened by extreme weather conditions to date. These are causing a slight decrease in the arable land area, forcing Swiss farmers to rely on increasingly intensive production to be able to cope with the growing population. 

Nevertheless, the recent update of legal conditions regarding the food sector aimed at favouring less intensive production did have repercussions on the degree of self-sufficiency. As a result, Switzerland has decided to invest more in producing plant food rather than animal forage, which will instead be imported.

Clean water is another resilient but endangered good.

Another factor highlighted and related to food production is the supply of clean water, which fortunately is not an impending problem in Switzerland at this time, which is constantly implementing infrastructure dedicated to water distribution.

Indeed, Switzerland benefits from the presence of several hydrologically independent springs and the exploitation of precipitation aimed at the production of potable water. In addition, the physical network between water suppliers is not subject to complex processes, which ensures that water is distributed equitably without harming the environment.

On the other hand, a concern encountered during the drought between 2015 and 2018 was the finding of pesticide residues in groundwater. Following this event, Switzerland was forced to dismantle countless reservoirs as they no longer met certain quality requirements imposed by the authorities. This has undoubtedly led to a general weakening of the clean water supply, but the remaining facilities have so far been able to guarantee the same volume of production.

Conclusion

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the correlation between rising global temperatures and increased extreme weather, crop fluctuations and potential supply problems will spare no one, let alone Switzerland. There will therefore be more dry periods in summer, an increase in rainfall and a decrease in snowfall during winter, thereby reducing run-off volumes in rivers in summer and fall. 

To face the challenges posed by climate change in the context of food security, Switzerland should:

Promote diversification of food sources, by choosing crops that are resilient to different climate conditions. In addition, the development of efficient storage will be necessary to reduce food waste. This would be easier to accomplish if farmers, agricultural workers, and local communities were adequately educated about the impacts of climate change.

In this regard, a study conducted by the Federal Office of Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (FSVO) on eating behaviour, exposed the lack of awareness about the recommendations of the AEP (delegate of the Organization and Structure of National Economic Supply) among the population, especially the younger population living in urban areas.

Support research and development in agriculture to make the crops more climate-resilient thanks to new technologies and farming techniques, for instance the use of drought-resistant seeds and the improvement of irrigation systems.
Foster international food security cooperation and partnerships in order to share knowledge, technologies, and resources that can be useful in addressing these challenges effectively.

In summary, food security has always been guaranteed in Switzerland, however, it is evident that the context of the agri-food sector is changing considerably, leading to greater supply difficulties, vulnerabilities, and dependence on other countries.