Unipi Team Leader: Prof. Gianluca Brunori, Dip. Di Scienze agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali

By integrating existing networks across Europe, the project will strengthen the “food culture” to achieve local high quality food systems. Thanks to the composition of its consortium, DIVERSIFOOD will cover the whole food chain: from genetic resources to marketing, connecting all the different actors involved.

DIVERSIFOOD uses a combination of approaches to optimise the management of on-farm, multi-actor crop evaluation (in WP2). The focus will be on underutilised crop species for marginal/specific conditions, which could be exploited either to improve or expand existing food products, or to create new products taking into account social changes and consumer demands.

DIVERSIFOOD (in WP5) applies also an explorative procedure to investigate the market potential for underutilized local food (food diversity) and products of newly bred lines coming from participatory breeding (PPB) based on four to six case studies conducted in various regions in the EU. DIVERSIFOOD develops a comprehensive approach and guidelines to conduct workshops and interviews in the different case studies. That approach allows identifying the most appropriate marketing strategies for food diversity and PPB.

The approach covers the whole supply chain and includes needs and expectations of breeders, farmers and processors and their networks. Key success factors and bottlenecks in the marketing of food diversity (product development, sales channels and price expectations) will be identified as well as the most supporting types of policy and networks.

Coordinator
INRA, INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHÉ AGRONOMIQUE (France)

Other participants

• INRA TRASFERT (France)
• INSTITUT TECHNIQUE DE L’AGRICULTURE BIOLOGIQUE (France)
• RÉSEAU SEMENCES PAYSANNES (France)
• UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA (Italy)
• FORMICABLU S.R.L. (Italy)
• RETE SEMI RURALI (Italy)
• AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (Spain)
• RED ANDALUZA DE SEMILLAS (Spain)
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE COIMBRA (Portugal)
• UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA (Portugal)
• PROSPECIERARA (Switzerland)
• RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE (Switzerland)
• ORGANIC RESEARCH CENTRE (United Kingdom)
• ARCHE NOAH (Austria)
• AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Cyprus)
• RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE (Hungary)
• LOUIS BOLK INSTITUUT (The Netherlands)
• ORGANIC NORWAY (Norway)
• LUONNONVARAKESKUS (Finland)

Start date 01/05/2015
End date 30/04/2019
Duration 48 months
Project cost 4.009.851 €
Project funding 3.429.908 €
Unipi quota 74.984 €
Call title H2020-SFS-2014-2
Unipi role Partner

Project website: http://www.diversifood.eu/