HAFL Hugo P. Cecchini Institute gets off to a successful start thanks to wide-ranging networks

05.01.2021 The HAFL Hugo P. Cecchini Institute, founded a year ago, contributes to the sustainable development of smallholder farms, forestry and food systems worldwide. In these Covid-19 times, the BFH-HAFL institute is doing important work together with its partners.

In January 2020, BFH-HAFL inaugurated its first Institute. The HAFL Hugo P. Cecchini Institute for International Cooperation and Development is a competence centre providing applied research and consulting services in developing and transition countries. It is named after Hugo P. Cecchini, a former student and long-standing member of staff at BFH-HAFL. His life exemplifies the values and goals of the new Institute: sustainability, cultural diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration.

In the last two years, BFH-HAFL has contributed to and carried out over 70 projects in more than 40 countries. Building on this wealth of experience, the Institute offers a platform for the cross-functional and interdisciplinary collaboration of crop and livestock scientists, forest scientists, socio-economists, food scientists, educationalists and other key stakeholders at BFH-HAFL and partner institutions.

This year more than ever, when lives and livelihoods have been disrupted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, BFH-HAFL researchers and students are having to collaborate closely – although at a distance – with local service providers and project partners and consider the wider context and sustainability of their project work. The breadth of the Institute’s network of partners is enabling collaboration with top international experts and ensuring that both staff and students can continue their vital working in many of the world’s fragile contexts.

The work of the Institute centres around three key pillars: integrated landscape management and food systems, project cycle management and impact assessment, as well as knowledge management and capacity building. Bringing together over 50 researchers and members of staff from all BFH-HAFL areas of expertise with international experience, the Institute offers a holistic approach to addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and beyond, with a focus on non-OECD countries.

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Category: Research, Consulting services