The Solution-Oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) programme is a joint programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It invites researchers and non-academic actors from policy and practice to collaborate in transnational, transdisciplinary consortia on solution-oriented research addressing global challenges and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The SOR4D programme is entering a second round. The SNSF and the SDC support projects that combine research and practice to reduce poverty and strengthen sustainable development worldwide.

Helvetas hosts the hybrid launch of the 2025 Global Hunger Index in Bern and online. Under the theme “It’s time to recommit to Zero Hunger,” the event reflects on two decades of tracking hunger trends and lessons for achieving SDG 2. Speakers include Regula Rytz (Helvetas President), Agnes Mahembe (Helvetas Tanzania), Shruti Patel (ETH Zurich), and Alessandra Roversi (SDC). A networking reception will follow.

A SWISSAID partner project in Karnataka has won the UNDP Equator Prize 2025. Since 2018, the Bibi Fatima Self-Help Group has revived millet cultivation, created community seed banks preserving 250+ indigenous varieties, and promoted agroecological practices across 30 villages. The initiative improves food security, nutrition, and women’s empowerment while reducing slash-and-burn farming.

Mercy Corps, under the ISSD Africa program, is preparing a new report focused on market-based approaches to seed security in fragile contexts. Before it is published, they want our feedback.