Projects Archive - CIHEAM Montpellier

INSIST-VAT

[2025 – 2027]

Institutional, Sustainable and Innovative Strengthening of Vocational Agricultural Training in Albania

INSIST-VAT is a project coordinated by the CIHEAM-IAMM, co-funded by the European Union within the scope of the Erasmus+ programme “Capacity Building in the field of vocational education and training” (CB-VET).

Objectives

The national strategy of the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for rural development and fisheries underlines the role of Agricultural Knowledge as the main pillar to improve sustainable food systems: ln January 2022, the MARD launched a strategy to strengthen producers’ capacity and enable them to adopt resilient practices by national training. In this context, the current offer in terms of agricultural advice -partly deployed via Technology Transfer Centers- has to strengthen its capacities.

The aim of this project is to set up a training offer at the Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) which gathers and cooperates with national and regional actors, serving as a seed of the Albanian Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation Systems (AKIS).

The INSIST-VAT CB VET project will meet the missions entrusted to the AUT by the MARD for designing a “producers’ academy” and offering training courses to producers and extension workers.

Results expected

INSIST-VAT will participate in:

The identification of the training needs of producers and extension workers;
The design of a training offer to meet the needs of producers and extension workers;
The organization, structuration and integration of a training center at the AUT, in connection with the departments & faculties concerned;
The setting-up of an interactive online platform as a tool for producers’ training;
The sustainability of the training center in terms of training offer, financing and national and international networking;
The involvement of Kosovo in this process -a country that faces the same agricultural challenges and training needs so as to allow the future transferability of this training tools to Kosovo.

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Contacts

Coordinator

Christophe MUR, mur@iamm.fr

CIHEAM-IAMM team

Virginie AVIGNON, Administrative and Financial Management
Anne COBACHO, Vocational Training Supervision
Kitty PAPADOPOULOU, Administrative and Financial Management
Teachers-researchers

Partners

International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies-Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAMM), France
Agriculture University of Tirana (AUT), Albania
Agriculture Technology Transfer Centre (QTTB) Fushe Kruja, Albania
University of Prishtina (UP), Kosovo
Association de Coordination Technique Agricole – Les Instituts Techniques Agricoles (ACTA), France
Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza-International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (IAMZ-CIHEAM), Spain
Agriculture Technology Transfer Centre (QTTB) Korca, Albania
Association pour la Qualité en Recherche et en Enseignement Supérieur (QUARES), France

Source of funding

Erasmus+ programme “Capacity Building in the field of vocational education and training” (CB-VET)

ERASMUS-EDU-2024-CB-VET / Project number 101183189

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DIONYSUS

[2024 – 2027]

Operational adaptation of WEFE (Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystems) Nexus-based systems solutions in Mediterranean

DIONYSUS is a PRIMA-funded project (2024-2026) on the Nexus approach in the Mediterranean Region, coordinated by CIHEAM-IAMM in Montpellier.

In common culture, Dionysus is often associated with being the god of wine. However, in Greek mythology, Dionysus symbolized the regeneration and the arrival of spring. According to ancient Greek beliefs, Dionysus was seen as the god who brought about the renewal of life in the springtime after a period of dormancy. Similarly, the objective of the DIONYSUS project is to bring about a new spring in WEFE (Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems) resources in the Mediterranean Basin

Based on 4 Demonstration Sites (Egypt, Greece, Morocco, and Italy) and 3 Replication Sites (Algeria, Tunisia, and Türkiye) that produce cornerstone agricultural products (i.e. cereal crops, fruits, vegetables, cotton, livestock, fodders, and other industrial crops), and by considering the main trends for the next 30 years of climate, natural resources (water, soil), urbanization (including migration and labor), markets (supply, demand, prices), and macroeconomic variables (i.e., GDP, interest rates, investment in agriculture), the project objective is to co-design, test and develop operational adaptation solutions and sustainable market solutions via innovative business-based models for the efficient and sustainable use of water-energy-food-ecosystem resources, that rely on local and regional initiatives, bring together and engage local and international stakeholders, and use a Cross-Sectoral Nexus adaptation tool for a transition to a Green Economy and Sustainable Development.

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Programs and contacts

Project Coordinator: Kleftodimos Georgios
Contact: kleftodimos@iamm.fr

Partners :

FRANCE : CIHEAM-Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (coordinator)
GRECE : University of Thessaly, TOEV Tavropou Karditsas
ITALIE : Consorzio di Tutela Arancia Rossa di Sicilia IGP, Università degli Studi di Catania, Almaviva The Italian Innovation Company S.p.A.
ALLEMAGNE : Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung, e.V.
TURQUIE : Ankara University
EGYPTE : Institute of National Planning, Egyptian Association for Sustainable Development
MAROC : Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, University Ibn Zohr
ALGERIE : Research Center for Applied Economics for Development
TUNISIE : National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia

Social Networks :

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dionysus_nexus/
X: https://x.com/Dionysus_nexus/media
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dionysus_nexus

ClimBeR

[2022 – 2024]

Enhanced Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus (WEFE) Decisions in Dry Land Agri-food Production

The project seeks to promote innovations that improve irrigation water efficiency, reduce fossil fuel consumption, improve food and animal production, and preserve natural resources. This objective will be addressed in a changing, uncertain, climatic, and socio-economic context. The main hypothesis that will be tested during this proposal is that agricultural systems that combine more diverse components (diversity of farms in a region, of activities in a farm, and of crops and varieties in a field or crop sequence) would support both the resilience/sustainability of agricultural systems and water resource use efficiency.

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Source of funding: CGIAR Trust Fund Contributors

Contact references

Project Scientific Coordinator: Hatem BELHOUCHETTE
Contact: belhouchette@iamm.fr

Website : https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/climate-resilience/?section=about

Partners

The Initiative engages 130 partners across six focus countries and globally on demand for the Initiative’s outputs, innovation, and scaling. Partners include ministries that coordinate climate action; ministries of agriculture; national agricultural research and extension systems; meteorological departments; disaster management units; local, national, and international NGOs; farmers’ organizations; United Nations organizations; other regional organizations and networks; insurance providers; micro-finance institutions and cooperatives; academia, training, and research partners; and public-private partnerships.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, INRA- Meknès, IAV-Hassan II, Direction de l’irrigation et de l’aménagement de l’espace agricole (Meknès).

Countries concerned

France
Morocco

NPP-SOL

[2023 – 2026]

MODELLING AND TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS TO PREVENT SURFACE AND GROUND-WATER BODIES FROM AGRICULTURAL NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION UNDER MEDITERRANEAN CONDITIONS

The general objective of NPS-SOL is to prevent diffuse pollution of water resources due to non-point agricultural pollutants under the Mediterranean soil and environmental conditions, according to the objectives of the new Green Deal and Farm-to-Fork strategies.

NPP-SOL will integrate site-specific best management practices for improving soil, water, fertilizers, and crop management with site-tailored and affordable-costs technologies for preventing natural bodies pollution. Common to all the adopted methodologies-technologies will be their sustainability and economic efficiency, and their adherence to circular economy approaches.

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Source of funding: PRIMA program supported by the European Union

Programme and contact references

Project Coordinator: University of Basilicata

Project Manager of CIHEAM Montpellier : Belhouchette Hatem

Contact: belhouchette@iamm.fr

NPP-SOL website: https://npp-sol.iamm.ciheam.org/

Partners

University of Basilicata (UNIBAS)

University of Cagliari (UNICA)

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAMM)

Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION)

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOAG)

National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA)

Mohammed V University of Rabat (UM5)

NATAE

[2022 – 2026]

Fostering Agro-Ecological Transition in North Africa Through Multi-Actor Design, Evaluation and Networking

NATAE (Fostering agroecology transition in North Africa through multi-actor, evaluation, and networking) is a recently awarded project under the Horizon Europe program. Based on a multi-actor and interdisciplinary approach, this four-year project will generate new perspectives to evaluate agroecology-inspired practices in a multidimensional way and at several scales (from production systems to territories and value chains). The objectives are to identify, evaluate and eventually promote the best combinations of agro-ecologically inspired practices in North Africa observed and tested (i), and to set up a Mediterranean agroecological network for knowledge exchange and advocacy at the regional level (ii).

The transformation of agriculture in the context of climate change is a central challenge in North Africa, which is the region of the world most dependent on food imports and a hot spot for climate change.
Faced with these issues, agroecology appears to be a response to address both the challenges of global sustainability and local resilience.

The NATAE project aims to foster the adoption of science-based, locally adapted, and co-designed AE strategies in North Africa by creating a comprehensive and quantitative baseline on AE, providing shared understanding, multi-dimensional performance measures, and analyses of AE’s potential to meet consumer demand in the marketplace.

To realize this objective, NATAE will establish and inform a unique multi-stakeholder knowledge-sharing and capacity-building community on EI in the Mediterranean. An original multidimensional and multiscale assessment model, integrating currently neglected factors and a transferable methodological guide will be designed. An integrated modeling approach combining a chain of biophysical and bioeconomic household/regional indicators will be used to develop a unique integrated food and agricultural systems assessment to evaluate the resilience of EAP-based food and agricultural systems. Participatory approaches via living labs will be developed to develop, test and capitalize on alternative public policies and to foster the transition to AE in North Africa.

A collective incorporating dissemination activities will test, advance and communicate a range of existing farm-to-fork EI innovations, including value chain innovations and food system governance innovations, by advancing their respective levels of maturity.

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Source of funding

European Union Horizon Europe Programme