agroBRIDGES has taken off to bring European producers and consumers closer together

by | May 19, 2021 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

agroBRIDGES has taken off to bring European  producers and consumers closer together

The agroBRIDGES team is working on implementing the first project actions. Don’t miss out on how we contribute to building bridges between producers and consumers.

After lots of preparation and growing enthusiasm, we are happy to announce that the agroBRIDGES project has taken off. Since January 2021, when we held the kick-off meeting, we worked to develop the multi-actor framework, the backbone of the project. This strategic approach based on establishing regional multi-actor platforms will serve as a basis to co-create new innovative business and marketing models for Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC).

What can agroBRIDGES offer you? Our mission is to build bridges between producers and consumers, rebalancing the farmers market position. We want to bring European producers to the forefront of the agri-food supply chains. To do so, within the three years of the project, we will create a set of practical and easy-to-use tools to foster business models that benefit both farmers and consumers.

Agri-food multi-actor framework

One of the strengths of the agroBRIDGES project is the innovative agri-food multi-actor framework. This approach brings together a wide range of stakeholders and practical tools to connect producers and consumers.
This framework will help us analyse the needs and barriers of the European SFSC and scoping best practices & success cases to inspire others. Through this collaborative research approach, we will provide practical solutions that improve the  market position of local producers and decrease the intermediaries profit margin.
Compared to traditional tools, which rely mainly on communication materials and event organisation, the novelty of agroBRIDGES is based on the implementation of concrete tools and resources for producers.
One of the clearest examples of this is our decision support tool for producers to choose the most sustainable business model by comparing scenarios or creating producer networks to take advantage of economies of scale.

Who is involved?

agroBRIDGES involves 15 organisations from 11 European countries, reflecting the features and challenges of the sector from both Northern and Southern Europe. Besides the geographical diversity, the agroBRIDGES consortium also gathers key actors of the Short Food Supply Chains such as private companies, foundations, technology institutes and public institutions.

Let´s talk numbers

The project goes further than the theoretical concepts. We want to demonstrate that new and more profitable SFSC models are possible. Therefore, the project’s expected impact is to develop new SFSC models that will allow producers to increase their income by minimising middlemen’s margins. It will also contribute to a 5-8% increase in the number of farms participating, wholly or partially, in direct sales to consumers.
We expect that more than 400 people from the agri-food sector will be involved in implementing the project, participating directly in the knowledge exchange, co-creation and co-development of the project results together with the project partners. Besides, 150 people will be trained on issues directly related to food procurement and how to mobilise innovative agri-food supply chains and support local producers.

What is coming up?

In the next months, the regional multi-actor platforms will collect practice-based knowledge on SFSCs through meetings (virtual or face-to-face depending on health context) and discussions in our online forum. Likewise, we are preparing an EU study on policy aspects of SFSCs, which will also be published on our website shortly.

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