Foto del docente

Marco Setti

Associate Professor

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Academic discipline: AGR/01 Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal

Useful contents

EU RIA-Project Food and Local, Agricultural, and Nutritional Diversity - FoodLAND

FOODLAND aims to enhance the diversity of food production and consumption in six African countries displaying different stages of the nutrition transition. To this end, FOODLAND will create a network of 14 local Food Hubs – paired with 14 separate cities – that will aggregate relevant actors and serve as injection points for the introduction of innovations.

FOODLAND has identified specific objectives addressing the organizational, technological, and nutritional needs of the local African food systems to be reached during the 4-year project duration: 1. to develop and implement open organizational innovations to boost coordination among food operators as well as their market orientation; 2. to develop, implement, and validate open technological innovations in farming and processing systems; and 3. to raise awareness on the achieved innovations and solutions towards malnutrition reduction. As diversity in food production and diets requires changes in practices and habits, FOODLAND will address the food-related behavioral patterns of both operators and consumers, as well as the relevant contextual conditions influencing their innovation-related decisions. Through participative approaches in the local Food Hubs, FOODLAND will create and validate (TRL 5) 12 prototypes for crop and fish farming and food processing systems that will deliver 17 novel food products. FOODLAND will empower smallholder farmers and food operators, foster nutrition-responsive and sustainable agro-biodiversity, reinforce the productivity and resilience of food supply chains, and create new market opportunities at both the local and global scales, thereby encouraging the flourishing of rural communities. These achievements will benefit both African and European consumers by providing them with traditional- based, healthy, nutritious foods, while encouraging the diffusion of African diets and aiding the fight against malnutrition, particularly in women and children.