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The year 2022 ended with the 9th plenary meeting of the MED-Amin network, which it was finally possible to hold face-to-face after two years during which the pandemic had prohibited it. Hosted by Spain and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the two-day meeting took place on 22 and 23 November 2022 at CIHEAM Zaragoza.

Once again, we would like to thank the partners involved for their organisational and financial support. These days not only allowed us to take stock of the work carried out over the past year, but also to share the challenges to be met in order to set up a genuine early warning system for cereal markets in the Mediterranean.

The significant participation of experts who have long been associated with the work of MED-Amin, whether they are within AMIS, the IGC, the FAO or the EU, testifies to the interest that many of the partners mobilised by the CIHEAM have in this project, which augurs very well for the future.

As for the work already carried out within MED-Amin, this new initiative on early warning would have no future without the assiduous participation of all the focal points who have been working within the network since its creation in 2014. We would also like to thank them warmly for their commitment to this new year. Under the presidency of Spain, which will also hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2023, the MED-Amin secretariat will also be responsible for organising the training courses and webinars that mark the year and enable the network’s skills to be consolidated.

The importance of this network was reiterated at the last CIHEAM Council, which was held on 16 December 2022. Several delegates intervened to underline its role in a context where unfortunately, for more than a year, the climatic, agricultural and geopolitical news in the region has only confirmed the need for such a tool to contribute to guaranteeing food security, in particular in the most fragile States in this respect. MED-Amin therefore remains a priority action of the CIHEAM for the coming year, which will be marked by a change of governance, since the Minister of Agriculture of Albania will take over the presidency of the CIHEAM from April 2023.

As Mr Miranda, the Spanish Secretary General for Agriculture and Food, pointed out in Zaragoza, the coordinated work of the MED-Amin network, the exchange of knowledge and experience, and the strengthening of mechanisms for anticipating unfavourable situations must contribute to resolving more effectively the new challenges posed by climate change, conflicts and geopolitical and commercial tensions.

Unfortunately, the year 2023 is not starting under the best of auspices: in a context of persistently high energy prices, agricultural production costs remain on an upward trend, while inflation is affecting household consumption, including food. And unfortunately, the beginning of the winter cereal season is marked by a persistent water deficit in several Mediterranean regions. Let us hope that the spring will be more clement and will allow us to hope for generous harvests throughout the basin in 2023.

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Our EU-funded project ALLIANCE has officially launched in the best possible way, with the kickoff meeting on the 19th of December 2022 in Volos Greece.CIHEAM-IAMM was present with the Scientific Administrators Georgios Kleftodimos presenting the Pilot Case study in Occitanie Region aiming to establish a blockchain traceability system for organic honey production.

ALLIANCE aims to provide a holistic framework that safeguards data integrity and veracity, enhances traceability and transparency and reinforces interoperability in quality-labeled food supply chain through innovative technology solutions and validated approaches and fosters evidence-based decision-making through AI and ML for preventive interventions and actionable planning.

🔎 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101084188

Our EU-funded project EXCEL4MED has officially launched in the best possible way, with the kickoff meeting on the 11th of January 2023 in Athens.

within the scope of the newly awarded NATAE Horizon Europe Project.

Context

NATAE (Fostering Agro-ecological transition in North Africa through multi-actors design, evaluation and networking) is a newly awarded project under the Horizon Europe programme. Based on a multi-actor and interdisciplinary approach, this four-year project will generate new insights for assessing practices that are inspired by agro-ecology in a multidimensional way and at multiple scales (from production systems to territory and value chains). The aims are to identify, evaluate and eventually promote the best observed and experimented combinations of practices inspired by agro-ecology in North Africa (i), and to set up a Mediterranean agro-ecological network for knowledge exchanges and advocacy at regional level (ii).

The approach is based on Multi-Actor Labs (MALs), as territories that are anchored in specific agro-ecosystems of North Africa. Production of scientific data and analyses in the field of agronomics, sociology and economics will inform on the potential for agro-ecological transition in the region. NATAE will support the cocreation and co-learning with multiple actors in MALs as well as concrete policies by informing largely with the opportunities provided by an agro-ecological transition perspective. It will also organize the capitalization and transfer of generated knowledge to education and extension. NATAE will further develop an Atlas platform on the performance of practices inspired by agroecology with regards to the farms, the landscape and the food systems.

Coordinated by CIHEAM Montpellier, NATAE gathers 23 partners from Europe and North Africa regions (academic institutes, international organisations, NGOs, technical institutes).

For more details on the missions, objectives and preliminary organisation:

• Terms of reference: “External Independent Ethics Advisor”