About Us
Our work spans research, teaching, and networking and outreach, with the shared goal of advancing socially just, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable global food systems.
Research
Our research examines how policies, institutions, and technologies can address key challenges in global food systems, with a particular emphasis on social sustainability and the trade-offs between social and environmental objectives. Contributing to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—including decent work, gender equality, poverty reduction, health, and responsible consumption and production—we move beyond a narrow focus on farmers to study actors across food systems. These includes workers, cooperatives, traders, restaurants, and agrifood startups, whose roles are often overlooked in agricultural and food policy research and debates.
We analyze how public policies, private standards, collective action, and technological innovations shape labor conditions, livelihoods, and distributional outcomes across food systems. Methodologically, we combine quantitative and qualitative approaches, drawing on surveys, experiments, interviews, and participatory research methods. Our empirical work spans Africa, Europe, and Asia, generating context-sensitive yet globally relevant evidence to inform agricultural, labor, migration, and social policy.
Teaching
Our teaching addresses a broad set of social and environmental challenges in global food systems, guided by the overarching question: How can policy, institutions, technology, and research contribute to sustainable and equitable food systems? Courses engage with topics such as food insecurity, poverty, labor exploitation, gender disparities, and food loss and waste, combiningtheoretical foundations, empirical research, and contemporary policy debates.
Beyond the classroom, we actively support BSc and MSc students in developing theses on social issues in food systems and offer opportunities for students to gain hands-on research experience as student assistants. Through our teaching, we aim to equip students with the analytical skills and interdisciplinary perspective needed to navigate the economic, social, and environmental trade-offs inherent in food systems transformation.
Network and outreach
We actively engage in and contribute to academic, policy, and public debates related to our research themes. Collaboration, diversity, and openness are central to our approach—within ETH Zurich and with partners across academia, policy institutions, civil society, and practice worldwide. Our outreach activities are designed to help translate research into meaningful change, including through engagement with media, policymakers, and international organizations.
Institutionally, the Food Systems Economics and Policy Group is part of the Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), affiliated with the Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), and associated with the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS). We are also a member of the World Food System Center (WFSC) and ETH4D, reinforcing our commitment to interdisciplinary research and global engagement.