The fenaco cooperative works with various organisations at a regional and national level. The overview below shows a selection of the most important partnerships.
Agroscope
Agroscope is the federal government's competence centre for agricultural research and is part of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The approximately 1,000 employees work at 12 locations in Switzerland. fenaco is working with Agroscope on a project to control harmful white worms using beneficial mushrooms, for example. The goal is to introduce new production and application processes.
crop.zone
crop.zone GmbH was founded in 2019. It unites an experienced team with a broad background in the sectors of agricultural engineering, start-ups, development, licensing and authorisation. The objective of crop.zone is to develop new methods as alternatives to conventional plant protection and offer them commercially.
ETH Zurich
The ETH Zurich is one of the best universities in the world and one of the leading universities on the European continent. It has more than 23,000 students and more than 500 professors from 121 countries. fenaco has been supporting the Chair of Molecular Plant Breeding at ETH Zurich since 2015. The CRISPR/Cas method offers enormous potential for progress in plant breeding.
University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland (OST)
The High School of Applied Sciences develops sustainable solutions for the industrial, service and agricultural sectors. It employs around 50 people at its locations in Rapperswil, Buchs and St. Gallen. In an Innosuisse project, fenaco, the OST University of Applied Sciences and other partners are working on sustainable weed control using drones and agricultural robots.
FiBL - the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
fenaco and the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) have entered into a strategic partnership for 2020. FiBL is one of the world's leading research institutes for organic agriculture. FiBL's strengths are interdisciplinary research, innovation in collaboration with farmers and the food sector, and rapid knowledge transfer. The institute employs a total of 280 staff at its various locations.
PestiRed
PestiRed is a resource programme of the Federal Office for Agriculture. It aims to test new practices to reduce the use of pesticides by 75% on agricultural land. fenaco is a partner in the PestiRed project, which will be launched in 2019. 68 farms in the cantons of Solothurn, Vaud and Geneva are participating in this programme, which will run until 2027.
Swiss Mountain Aid
Schweizer Berghilfe (Swiss Mountain Aid) has been helping people in the Swiss mountains since 1943. It supports projects that create jobs and add value in the mountain areas. In this way, it helps to counteract migration and ensures that the mountain regions thrive in the future too. fenaco is a partner of Berghilfe.
To the website of Swiss Mountain Aid
Swiss Table
With its food distribution, Table Suisse contributes to the reduction of poverty in Switzerland. Every day, they receive about 16 tons of food from producers, large distributors, retailers and industry. They then redistribute it free of charge to social institutions - shelters for the homeless, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and other relief organisations - and to distribution centres.
Tischlein deck dich
Tischlein deck dich saves food from destruction and distributes it to people affected by poverty throughout Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Every week they reach around 20,000 people in need with their 133 distribution points. In this way they make a socially meaningful and ecologically sustainable contribution to the respectful handling of food.
To the website of Tischlein deck dich
YASAI
YASAI revolutionizes the way food is produced in the 21st century. Based on a circular economy model, the ETH Zurich spin-off offers "Vertical Farming as a Service" - a turnkey solution enabling customers to create, operate and market their vertical farms and products. YASAI empowers its customers to grow more with less and contributes to the creation of circular food production systems in cities and regions lacking sufficient agricultural resources such as fresh water or fertile arable land.
