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Biovision Stiftung für ökologische Entwicklung

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Agriculture Biodiversity Climate Change Development Education Environment Extreme poverty Food Information Least Developed Countries Media Science and Technology Sustainable Development Trade and Development Women/gender Equality Sustainable Development: Agriculture Biodiversity Biotechnology Climate change Desertification and Drought Education Forests Freshwater Gender equality Health Land management Partnerships Poverty Protecting and managing the natural resources Rural Development Science Sustainable development for Africa Sustainable development in a globalizing world Technology Toxic chemicals Trade and environment
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Uganda Kenya United Republic of Tanzania Burundi Ethiopia Switzerland Malawi
Millennium Development Goals:	Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	Biovision has been promoting ecological solutions to reduce poverty and improve food security in sub-Saharan Africa since 1998. The Swiss foundation develops and circulates practice-oriented agroecological knowledge and action through its strong partner network. As a non-religious and politically independent organization, Biovision aligns its work with the UN global sustainability goals of “Agenda 2030”, particularly Goal 2 of “Zero Hunger”. Furthermore, the work is geared towards the following SDG goals: No poverty (goal 1), good health and well-being (goal 3), gender equality (goal 5), responsible consumption and production (goal 12), climate action (goal 13) and life on land (goal 15). As a pioneer of change, it advocates a fundamental, agroecological transformation of food systems. Biovision thus supports agroecological innovations and approaches and works to increase their prominence and use. Biovision is a solution-oriented, pragmatic organization that builds bridges across a variety of stakeholders. Transferring knowledge, raising public awareness, and developing feasible political strategies and conducive framework conditions are important parts of its activities. Biovision shows that agroecological approaches work. It emboldens decision-makers to better leverage innovation, awareness-raising and investment to mobilize a transformation in food systems. Biovision addresses important systemic issues with the help of strong partners, so it accomplishes major achievements even as a relatively small organization. In doing so, it uses and promotes the momentum generated by a growing number of actors committed to agroecological alternatives and the transformation of food systems. Biovision is ZEWO certified.
Year established:	1998
Year of registration:	1998
Organizational structure:	Biovision`s highest authority is the Foundation Board with its current members Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren (Foundation President), Mathis Zimmermann, Paula Daeppen-Dion, Maya Graf, Shruti Patel, Prof Dr Christoph Studer, Andreas Schriber. The Foundation Board carries the responsibility for Biovision`s operations. It is responsible for strategic direction, election of the CEO and supervision of the office headquarters. The Foundation Board approves the annual budget and plan, as well as applications for funding. Operative management rests with CEO Anders Gautschi. Divisional management is made up of: Alexandra Arnold - Finance and Administration, Fabio Leippert - Policy & Advocacy, Dr Piera Waibel – International Partnerships, Sabine Lerch - Programme Switzerland and Sharon Nehrenheim - Communication & Fundraising. Biovision employs over 40 people in Switzerland who work predominantly on a part-time basis. Furthermore, Biovision is certified establishment for civilian service.
Number and type of members:	6 board members and approximately 35 000 supporters which are called "members" but are not members in a legal sense, since it is not legal for a Swiss Foundation to have members. However, for purposes of financial reporting Biovision has a category of donors we call "members". They are in fact just donors with no voting or other membership rights.
Affiliation with NGO networks:	• Biovision African Trust • CEAS – Centre Ecologique Albert Schweitzer • SDSN – UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network • CAN – Climate Action Network • CSM (Civil Society Mechanism) at the CFS (Comitee on World Food Security)
Funding structure:	Other sources Donations and grants from domestic sources Grants from Governments Foreign and international grants Funds from other Non-Governmental Organizations
Funding structure other:	Corporate Sponsors

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