Although early in the morning, the headlines attracted many participants. Padruot Fried from the Swiss Forum for international Agricultural Research (SFIAR) gently led trough the headlines: Public support from SDC Yves Guinand from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) highlighted the contribution from the Swiss Confederation with respect to food security. Swiss Research Institutions Prof. Bernard Lehmann, dean of the department of Food- and Agriculture (D-AGRL) at ETH Zurich, Fritz Schneider from the Swiss college of Agriculture (SHL), Markus Giger from the Centre of Development and environment of University of Berne (CDE) and the National Centre of Competence in Research North-South (NCCR North-South) and Urs Niggli from the Swiss research institution for organic agriculture (FiBL) then outlined the available resources and the strategies in addressing the particular research interests respectively. Private Initiatives Hans Jöhr from the Nestlé Company was glad to present a sample of different sustainable agriculture initiatives from different emerging countries. SFIAR award ceremony

The SFIAR network, the Swiss Forum of International Agricultural Research, is a platform, which was launched at the ministerial at the ministerial conference on international agricultural research in Lucerne in 1995. In the context of the Swiss Session at the Tropentag 2010, the SFIAR gave an award for outstanding scientific work. The award carries a value of Sfr 5000.- The winner of this year was Dr. Lian Pin Koh. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with degrees in Bachelor and Master of Science, and from Princeton University with a Doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Currently he is a Senior Research Fellow at ETH Zurich. Lian Pin's main interests lie in basic and applied ecology, as well as environmental science and policy.