Horizon Europe: New sustainable business and production models for farmers and rural communities

Expected Outcome

The successful proposal should support the European Green Deal initiatives notably the farm to fork, the forest, biodiversity and bioeconomy strategies, the common agricultural policy (CAP), the communication on sustainable carbon cycles, the EU mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, and the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas (contributing to make rural areas stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous) and its research and innovation flagship initiative by developing innovative business and production models (i.e. but not limited to, smart farming, social farming, indoor plant factory, aquaponics, unattended horticulture, livestock and fish farms, e-commerce, tourism, cultural and natural heritage management, service delivery) that are fit for the future and foster improved economic outcomes, cooperation, inclusiveness and fairness for farmers and/or rural communities, and at the same time achieve high sustainability, contribute to climate neutrality and meet societal expectations, in particular with regards to local economies and protection and restoration of nature and resources (e.g. water, soil and air).

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Farmers and/or other rural actors widely adopt innovative inclusive and sustainable business and production models that enhance and remunerate climate action (i.e. increase carbon removals), biodiversity protection and restoration, and the reduction of emissions or concentrations of air pollutants in a variety of farming and rural contexts;
• Farmers and/or rural actors position in value chains is improved thanks to more inclusiveness, fairness and financial sustainability of trading relationships between the various actors in the upstream/downstream agri and rural business;
• It is possible to measure and track the economic, social and environmental sustainability of different farming systems and rural businesses thanks to the development and use of innovative technologies, including but not limiting to digital ones.
• Increased prosperity of farmers and/or in rural areas thanks to the creation of new jobs opportunities resulted from innovative and sustainable production and business models.

Scope

EU agri-food value chains are diverse and dynamic, enabling them to meet the various consumers’ expectations, potentially helping producers increase value added. Farming and other sectors in rural areas provide large numbers of jobs, yet rural communities often face challenges, such as a shrinking and ageing population, a lack of high qualified workers, a lack of good quality services and connectivity, which limit the economic attractiveness of these places.

At the same time agriculture is characterised by a stagnant and low share of value added in the value chain due to: high input costs, structure of the food value chains (concentration upstream and downstream), variation in production and incorporation of new services. Pressure on natural resources and climate change threats make all of the above-mentioned problems weigh more heavily. In an era of very tense discussions on climate change, global warming, air, water and soil pollution the EU stands firmly as a front-runner and targets the very ambitious goal of becoming a climate-neutral continent by 2050. This target seems very challenging when looking at where we stand today and the pace at which expected changes across different sectors are taking place.

Therefore, rural communities as well as farmers are under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable business and production models that consider not only economic but also both social and environmental aspects. Moving towards more sustainable business and production systems requires adequate tools and measurement methods to assess and monitor the multi-performance of farms and rural businesses under different conditions.

More information: Funding and Tenders