As announced by President Juncker on 13 May 2015, the European Commission intends to set up a new Scientific Advice Mechanism ("SAM"). The mechanism will support the Commission with high-quality, timely and independent scientific advice for its policy-making activities.
Farming consumes around 70% of the world’s fresh water. Limiting irrigation to the actual water crops need – and no more – makes farming more sustainable and improves yields. An EU-funded project is developing a user-friendly precision irrigation decision support system for more accessible technology that saves water. A first interface will be available next year.
Most of the food produced in Africa is supplied by small-scale farmers, many of whom are struggling. New knowledge could help to boost these micro-operations and their contribution to food security, but smallholders are rarely consulted when research agendas are set. An EU-funded project focused on stimulating the necessary dialogue.
Sustainable rural development can only be accomplished by empowering local people to participate in the development of new techniques themselves. In understanding the importance of irrigation for smallholder farmers, the EU-funded EAU4FOOD project has integrated locals within the innovation process.
Where water is scarce, it makes sense to make the most of what you receive for free. An EU-funded project is studying the different ways Africa’s farmers can increase the volume of rain and river water collected, to improve crop yields and bridge dry spells.
To stop the Mediterranean region turning into a desert, the EU-funded MENFRI project is establishing forest management strategies and solutions that address environmental concerns across the Mediterranean and create jobs. These include forest management training, support for women’s associations in North Africa to commercialise forest-based products, certification of sustainably sourced goods in the Mediterranean and promotion of rural tourism.
Under your feet is something very ordinary but essential to life – soil. It grows the food we eat and regulates the water, carbon and nutrient cycles that shape our environment and climate. To help keep farming sustainable, EU-funded researchers have mapped out the long-term impacts of how farmers use soil, and developed a tool and guidelines to support best practices in farms.
An EU-funded project has resulted in the commercialisation of natural bakery products in line with consumers’ tastes. The project has developed cost-effective means of producing bread products with nutrition content at least similar to wholegrain. It has also helped some of Europe’s small bakers launch new products in line with consumers’ tastes, and led to the coordinator being named “Bakery Personality of the Year 2014”!
Africa’s dry climate and strong rural dependence on farming make drought a particular threat across the continent. Early warning and targeted action can limit the harm done – EU-funded research is connecting policy-makers to information that helps them identify risks and prevent problems.
Rising temperatures in mountain regions could have a significant impact on ecosystems, societies and economies around the world over the coming decades, according to EU-funded researchers who led a landmark study into the effects of climate change on mountain water resources.
Olives are not only a ‘superfood’ – they also create thousands of jobs in the Mediterranean region. But ironically, producing table olives or olive oil requires huge amounts of water – sometimes a scarcity in hot, dry southern Europe. An EU-funded project has developed a system to re-use the water used to wash olives – good news for both the environment and olive producers limited by low water levels.
An EU-funded project has developed an online network to encourage global collaboration in research and innovation on food safety. The project’s network, online information portal and research aim to improve food safety in Europe and reduce health risks.
For three decades, the EU Framework Programmes have been funding breakthroughs across Europe. RTD’s Horizon Magazine looks at the people and events that have helped shape European research policy, taking you behind the scenes during the pivotal moments from the last 30 years of research funding. These articles have been brought together into a special Horizon supplement to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Framework Programmes.
Freshwater habitats covering more than 80% of the Earth’s land surface have been catalogued in an EU-funded research project, yet even in Europe our knowledge of freshwater biodiversity is far from complete.
How do influenza viruses become able to jump from one species to another? Under which conditions does our immune system protect us against influenza as opposed to making it easy for the virus to develop? How do farmers react when faced to signs of disease? These were some of the questions on which answers are still needed from research to fight animal influenza.
The third global science conference on climate-smart agriculture takes place on 16-18 March 2015 in Montpellier France. Its ambition is to build tomorrow's research agenda and to bridge the gap between science policy on climate change and agriculture.
Horizon 2020 has started, a new game with new rules. What are the experiences so far? What has improved? What new obstacles and challenges have appeared? Are there already best practices we can learn from?
This two-day conference organised by the EU-funded project Atopica is about the combined impact of changes in climate, land use and air pollution on the highly invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) and its consequences on health.
Rural development is often seen to be only a policy issue. But for policy-making to be evidence-based and well suited to the rapidly evolving needs on the ground a variety of questions must be answered and tools provided. Reflecting on what these questions should be, experts highlighted the crucial importance for research outcomes to be well suited to the operational needs of decision-makers in order to ensure a real impact of rural development research.
Around 65 experts assembled in Brussels to discuss what 'climate-smart farms' of 2030 should look like, with the ultimate goal to define research activities which may help us progress on the road towards climate-smart agriculture.
