This dashboard provides an overview of the of initiatives contributing to the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, including in the area of food and nutrition security, and sustainable food systems.

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe, the ninth European Research and Innovation Framework programme (2021-2027) amounts 100 billion Euros and its cluster 6 will support the transition to resilient food systems. International cooperation will be stepped up through strategic alliances in areas such as food and nutrition security, animal health, soil, climate change, ecosystem restoration, forest and water management, seas and oceans. The development of an EU-African Union R&I Partnership will continue in areas such as food and nutrition security, sustainable agriculture and climate. The HORIZON EUROPE STRATEGIC PLAN 2021 – 2024  defines in detail the strategic orientations for our research and innovation investments.

HORIZON EUROPE – WORK PROGRAMME 2021-2022

The following research and innovation actions – as listed in the HORIZON EUROPE – WORK PROGRAMME 2021-2022 ON FOOD, BIOECONOMY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT – will contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems in developing countries, a priority of the external dimension of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy :

• One Health approach for Food Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (MEUR 18)

This research and innovation action will address big, intermediate and small cities and towns. It will address the fact that poorly planned urban food systems lack opportunities to link rural and urban food producers, markets and consumers, and limit the access of vulnerable groups to safe and healthy nutrition.

Information related to the projects funded under this programme are available here.

• Agroecological approaches in African agriculture systems (MEUR 28)

This research and innovation action will develop and test approaches to innovations that improve nutrition through a deeper understanding of the unmet nutritional needs, aspirations, behaviours and preferences of consumers who remain underserved by markets and face limited access to affordable nutritious foods.

Information related to the projects funded under this programme are available here.

• African food cities (MEUR 12)

The implementation of agro-ecological approaches will alleviate the pressure that agri-food production places on natural ecosystems, contributing to resilience of agri-food systems and facilitating nature-based responses to current and future agri-food risks and threats. Agro-ecological transitions of food systems requires strong food governance with interventions at different level (local, territorial, and value chain) and coherent public policies.

Information related to the projects funded under this programme are available here.

• AU-EU Combatting all forms of malnutrition (MEUR 11)

The “One Health” approach to plant and animal health is based on a systemic perspective linking the health of ecosystems, animals and humans. It requires interventions at different level (local, territorial, value chain) and coherent public policies. ‘One Health’ can be applied to establish a transformative approach to increasing sustainable practices in agriculture and improving the overall health and well-being of humans, animals, and natural ecosystems.

Information related to the projects funded under this programme are available here.

HORIZON EUROPE – WORK PROGRAMME 2023-2024

The Horizon work programme 2023-2024 aims as well to promote a global transition to sustainable food systems through the following actions:

HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-17: EU-African Union cooperation – linking the activities of the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership and those of the Pan-African Network for Economic Analysis of Policies (PANAP) (EU contribution: EUR 4 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-18: Support for the implementation of a sustainable platform for the EU-African Union cooperation under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership (EU contribution: EUR 4 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-19: Support to the markets and trade of agroecological food products under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership (EU contribution: EUR 7 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-20: EU-Africa Union – food safety (EU contribution: EUR 5 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK-01-10: EU-African Union cooperation on agroforestry management for climate change adaptation and mitigation (EU contribution: EUR 6 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK-01-11: EU-African Union – towards climate- neutral, social just fair trade food systems (EU contribution: EUR 4.5 million).

HORIZON-CL6-2023-GOVERNANCE-02: Supporting the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance and Declaration (EU contribution: EUR 4 million)

Horizon 2020

Under the programmes “ A sustainable and competitive agri-food industry ” and “ Healthy and safe foods and diets for all ”, Horizon-2020 provides fundings to projects in Africa aimaing at:

• improving food systems resulting in sustainable and healthy African diets;
• empowering small farmers;
• creating new market opportunities for novel food products;
• reducing malnutrition.

More information are available here . Projects funded under this initiative can be seen here

LEAP4FNSSA

LEAP4FNSSA is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) whose main objective is to provide a tool for European and African institutions to engage in a Sustainable Partnership Platform for research and innovation on Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA). Projects under LEAP4FNSSA are funded through different instruments: The African Union Research Grants (AURG), the LeapAgri ERA-Net , Horizon 2020, and the DeSIRA initiative . All projects are inventoried in a database .

An analysis of the contribution of LEAP4FNSSA projects to the goals of the FNSSA roadmap and of their relevance vis-a-vis broader regional and international policy objectives, including the SDGs, has been conducted in December 2020.

The project has ended and the CEA-FIRST (see below) took over in 2024.

CEA-FIRST: Consortium Europe-Africa for Research and Innovation on Food Systems Transformation

The project takes over the LEAP4FNSSA, extended with new public and private network partners. CEA-FIRST will operationalise the International Research Consortium (IRC) as a long-term platform on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) in line with the FNSSA Roadmap of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD).

It has the following objectives:

1. Providing public access to an extensive platform of knowledge in food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture.
2. Developing a robust methodology for analyzing Research and Innovation (R&I) activities and priorities.
3. Supporting the update of the AU-EU R&I partnership roadmap.
4. Establishing operational and thematic research working groups.
5. CEA-FIRST will facilitate connections between the IRC and the AU-EU high-level political dialogue.
6. It will create a learning environment, including communication channels, to support multi stakeholder networks and to strengthen R&I coordination

FOOD 2030 Policy Framework

Food 2030 - a timely EU research and innovation policy response to the recent international policy developments including the SDGs and COP21 commitments- is built on key Food and Nutrition Security priorities:

• NUTRITION for sustainable and healthy diets: Ensuring that nutritious food and water is available, accessible and affordable for all. It involves reducing hunger and malnutrition, ensuring high levels of food safety and traceability, reducing the incidence of non-communicable diet-related diseases, and helping all citizens and consumers adopt sustainable and healthy diets for good health and wellbeing.
• CLIMATE smart and environmentally sustainable food systems: Building climate smart food systems adaptive to climate change, conserving natural resources and contributing to climate change mitigation. It seeks to support healthy, productive and biodiverse ecosystems. Ensuring diversity in food systems (including production, processing, distribution and logistics) including in terms of cultural and environmental diversity. Natural resources (water, soil, land and sea) are used sustainably within the planetary boundaries and available to future generations.
• CIRCULARITY and resource efficiency of food systems: Implementing resource-efficient circular economy principles across the whole food system while reducing its environmental footprint. Circularity is applied for sustainable and resource-efficient food systems and food losses and waste are minimised throughout.
• INNOVATION and empowerment of communities: Boosting innovation and investment, while empowering communities. A broad innovation ecosystem leading to new business models and value-added products, goods and services, meeting the needs, values and expectations of society in a responsible and ethical way. More and better jobs across the EU, fostering thriving urban, rural and coastal economies and communities. Through closer partnerships with industry and food producers, markets that function in a responsible manner thereby fostering fair trade and pricing, inclusiveness and sustainability. Scientific evidence and knowledge from a wide diversity of actors underpinning the development and implementation of FNS relevant policies, at all geographical scales (Local to Global).

Food 2030 was launched after the 2015 Milan World Expo, when Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, announced his intention to launch a Food Research Area by World Food Day 2016.

The publication “Food 2030 pathways for action” sets out 10 pathways where research and innovation can concretely deliver co-benefits to nutrition, climate, circularity and communities, at multiple levels: from local to international.

One of these pathways is connected to the European Union – African Union Research and Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA Partnership) and focuses on food systems in Africa.

PRIMA

The Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) aims to address water scarcity and food security in the Mediterranean region.

The DeSIRA Initiative

Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems

The overall objective of CDAIS is  to make agricultural innovation systems more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers.

CDAIS operates in eight pilot countries, in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The capacity development interventions in these eight countries are demand-driven and integrates development of individual competencies and organisational capacities with policy dialogues.

Supported by the European Union (EU) and implemented by FAO in partnership with Agrinatura (a consortium of 31 European universities and research institutes), this project uses a community-based approach that works through reflection, group learning and increased engagement, helping farmers to better adopt innovative methods. CDAIS provides support as well to the  Tropical Agriculture Platform  to review knowledge on capacity development for agricultural innovation systems and consolidate concepts and approaches into a common framework.

EU Support to CGIAR

As the world’s largest global agricultural innovation network, CGIAR brings evidence to policy makers, innovation to partners and new tools to harness the economic, environmental and nutrition power of agriculture. The EU is a major funder of the CGIAR.

CGIAR organizes its work along three Action Areas in which accelerated innovation is required to create sustainable and resilient food, land, and water systems and to meet SDG targets. The three Action Areas, which build on the firm foundation of CGIAR’s traditional strengths in genetics and farming systems with a more ambitious agenda around food, land, and water systems, are:

1. Systems Transformation
2. Resilient Agrifood Systems
3. Genetic Innovation

EU support to the CGIAR aims in particular to strengthen research capacity in climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainable management and protection of natural resources, through the promotion of approaches such as agroecology, landscape management and agroforestry, diversification of trade flows and production systems, and reduction of food loss and waste (c.f. Communication on Safeguarding Food Security and Reinforcing the Resilience of Food Systems”).

Browse more EU projects on "Research and Innovation in food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture":