August 2021
Press Release
PRIMA MED-LINKS
Data-enabled Business Models and Market Linkages Enhancing Value Creation and Distribution in Mediterranean Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains
MED-LINKS “The Mediterranean Fruit and Vegetables supply chains” will be linked together under PRIMA program, supported, and funded under EU Horizon 2020 Framework.
The main objective of the project is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of Mediterranean fruit and vegetable supply chains through the establishment of a regional network of actors, which will lead to the production of qualified, timely, and comparable information, and close the information gaps and asymmetries, low and geographically fragmented production volumes, remoteness and transportation Explore The WorldD costs and difficulty in meeting high food safety requirements and traceability.
In addition, recently, small-scale producers have also been facing unprecedented stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic since bans, trade, and movement restrictions made competition on the market even more challenging for smallholders; the Overall Objective of MED-LINKS is to provide small-scale producers with tailored and effective solutions enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and fairness along fruit and vegetable supply chains in Mediterranean countries.
MED-LINKS will also develop new tools and methodologies for more efficient and sustainable production of fresh fruit and vegetables in the Mediterranean in a 5-steps process:
- Research
- Conceptualization
- Optimization
- Piloting
- Knowledge transfer
MED-LINKS will provide advances beyond state of the art in several perspectives, will help to cope with the COVID-19 impacts on the FV sector by implementing safer and more controlled measures along the FV supply chain, will identify enhanced sustainability protocols particularly suited for small-scale producers, provide a complete analysis of at least five value chains, create a new environment for the establishment of horizontal and vertical coordination.
The project is based on the network of partners in the Mediterranean, including 11 partners (R&D Institutes, Universities, Federations), with five different countries involved (Italy, Egypt, France, Greece, Morocco). The project was launched in August… 2021, and It will run for over 36 months.