The project EXCEL4MED is a #horizoneurope project aspiring to create an Excellence Hub that focuses on the #Mediterranean #fruit #supplychains. The corresponding proposal was submitted under the topic #excellencehubs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-04-01) involving 14 organisations from #Greece, #Malta and #France. The project is coordinated by the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and professor Vasilis Valdramidis.
The need: Most agricultural activities depend on the season and weather, and therefore, activities need to follow a fine-tuned schedule with flexibility/adaptability so that immediate actions can be performed when needed. Furthermore, Agrifood Supply Chains are affected by operational, logistical, financial and socio-economic repercussions, threatening their enterprises and global food resilience. Since all processes and stages in a supply chain are strongly connected, a slight delay or glitch can trigger a butterfly effect resulting in a big loss in the yield and output. Finally, the Mediterranean Agrifood Supply Chains, dealing with small-scale farmers producing perishable items, are suffering the most because of climate change and lack of technological innovations, linkages between sciences and business, knowledge transfer, and business models.
The solution: EXCEL4MED Excellence Hub will facilitate the production of nutritious food products and the valorization of food industrial side-streams, strengthening the Mediterranean food added-value chains and innovation ecosystems. EXCEL4MED will be interconnected with umbrella company organizations, research institutions, governmental bodies and societal actors that will be mutually reinforcing each other in a Mediterranean context and together will raise the level of innovation excellence in their regional fabric. EXCEL4MED will be contributing to the Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal by aiming to make Mediterranean fruit supply chains resilient, ensuring sustainability in the eastern Mediterranean through the Excellence Hub.
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