A Systematic Review of EU-Funded Innovative Agri-Food Projects: Potential for Transfer between Territories

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of innovative projects funded by EU Rural Development Programs that were designed and implemented in rural areas of the European Union to facilitate the territorialized production of foodstuffs and their sale through alternative networks. On the basis of the results obtained in this review, we designed a model for the transfer of knowledge to the local community in the Alpujarra Granadina (Granada, Spain) within the framework of the LifeWatch project. This study uses two consecutive methodological approaches. We began by developing a protocol for the systematic search and analysis of successful rural development projects carried out in the European Union between 2007 and 2020. After that, we created a model for the transfer of results using a participative methodological approach. The results of our analysis of the group of projects selected for review show that the main innovations were made in different aspects of the product, process, sales and distribution. These innovative ideas were implemented by rural communities with a high degree of collective initiative and intelligence and could potentially be replicated in other areas. The sample analyzed contains a wide array of novel, alternative formulas, which are transversal to the projects, so provide significant contents that could be used to activate a space for participation and debate, which could itself become fertile ground for the creation of new projects. In conclusion, this study provides the stakeholders in rural areas, in particular farmers, with a wide, systematically organized knowledge base that proposes solutions to shared challenges.

Do EIP-AGRI operational groups improve farmers’ performance? An analysis of treatment effects in intensive farming systems

“…Another reason that makes impact assessment difficult concerns data availability. The main instrument used for dissemination of innovative projects aimed at rural development and agriculture is represented by the publication of project data on online databases (Ibáñez-Jiménez et al, 2022). The official database of European OGs can be freely consulted on the EIP-AGRI website.…”

Denominaciones de Origen Protegidas del cerdo ibérico y territorio. Una lectura desde la perspectiva de la agroalimentación territorializada

“…Tales conexiones parecían justificar el análisis de las DOPs del cerdo ibérico con atributos de los SIALs (González Romero et al, 2022), particularmente dos: sostenibilidad, expresada en arraigos agroecológicos en la dehesa (Amaya Corchuelo, 2012) y en ganaderías autóctonas gestionadas en condiciones de bienestar animal (Horrillo Gallardo et al, 2020); y proximidad, asimilada a cercanías productivas ganaderas y agroindustriales. El recurso a las DOPs, como un indicador de presencia de sistemas agroalimentarios localizados también avalaba esa transferencia (Linck, 2018;Ibáñez-Jiménez et al, 2022). De ello no necesariamente se…”

“…(1) los SIALs son un modelo agroalimentario emergente y alternativo a los desmanes de la intensificación y la globalización, considerados adalides de competitividad sostenible y responsable (Rodríguez, 2017); (2) las DOPs son utilizadas como exponentes de presencia de sistemas de agroalimentación territorializada (Ibáñez Jiménez et al, 2022); (3) los estudios sobre desarrollo rural asumen las conexiones DOPs-desarrollo territorial, aunque raramente se demuestran (Linck, 2018). Es común considerar que las DOP revierten en el desarrollo de los territorios rurales (Tregear et al, 2007;Tolón Becerra & Lastra Bravo, 2009;Ruiz Pulpón & Plaza Tabasco, 2015;Sánchez et al, 2009).…”