The regional initiative aimed to establish a cross-border agri-food ecosystem which set the ground for the development of the whole Mediterranean organic sector. This was encouraged through new business alliances, creation of innovative value chains, and specialized support provided to MSMEs to increase the quality and the commercialization of products and their capacities to access new markets in collaboration with Competent Public Authorities.
Programme: ENI CBC MED 2014-2020
Description
The Project involved Project Partners from 7 Mediterranean Countries where Competent Authorities, in charge of sector’s policy and surveillance, were involved and ensured project results sustainability. Objectives have been reached through a cross-border Organic Ecosystem and a Document on organic agriculture prospects in the Mediterranean area (O3.1); Consultancy services for business development to facilitate MSMEs in innovative value chain creation (O4.1);
Local Labs to share knowledge and support new business alliances (O5.1) and international business events to facilitate MSMEs market access and the link with research (O5.2). 150 MSMEs (production, processing, supply, trade, etc.) were involved and at least 24 organic MSMEs were directly supported. Project final beneficiaries were agro-food MSMEs at large and consumers that benefit at all levels from a trustful organic sector.
General objective of the project:
Improvement of the organic sector competitiveness through the creation of a cross-border Organic Ecosystem supporting the development of business and MSMEs in cooperation with public institutions.
Specific objective
Strengthening innovative organic value chain through the establishment of Mediterranean business alliances. New value chain will be defined through a participatory approach focused on needs collection and innovative solutions co-design aimed at improving market access.
About the Project
Agriculture puts a lot of pressure on the environment. Soil fertility, biodiversity and human life are all negatively impacted by intensive and extensive farming. There is no doubt that organic agriculture is a great solution to achieve food safety and security as well as environmental sustainability. However, organic agriculture is still relatively underdeveloped in Mediterranean countries with heterogeneous situations from country to country.
Main shared challenges are inconsistent or lacking support policies from national/local governments, low innovation capacities, limited knowledge of sustainable farming practices, and a weak value chain where MSMEs operate in a disaggregated way. ORGANIC ECOSYSTEM project aimed at reducing these obstacles and make the MSMEs operating in organic agriculture more competitive and better integrated.
The project intended to establish a cross-border agro-food ecosystem which set the ground for the development of the Mediterranean whole organic sector. This have been encouraged through new business alliances, creation of innovative value chains, and specialized support provided to MSMEs to increase the quality and the commercialization of products and their capacities to access to new markets.
Project Output:
• Cross-border Organic Ecosystem established to develop a strategy for innovative value chain;
• Consultancy services to facilitate SMEs in innovative value chain creation;
• Labs carried out to share knowledge and provide added value products by new business alliances;
• International business events to facilitate MSMEs market access and the link with research.
Total budget: 2.428.851,64 €
Co-financing: 242.885,10€
