Project title
ReAlising DynamIc vAlue chaiNs for underuTilised crops
Funder
Funding Program
H2020-SFS-2020-2
Horizon 2020
Funding code
RADIANT
Start date
September 1, 2021
Expected Completion
2025-08-31
Description
Of the 4 % of the 300 000 known edible plant species (12 000 species), only 200 are used by humans. Boosting agricultural biodiversity could reduce our reliance on the small number of plant species. In this context, the EU-funded RADIANT project will focus on underutilised crops. Bringing together a multi-actor consortium of highly skilled value chain actors, researchers and end users, the project will co develop solutions and tools to boost agrobiodiversity via dynamic value chains (DVCs). To promote the breeding and farming of underutilised crops, the project will facilitate a transformation towards sustainable DVCs that foster agrobiodiversity in educational, financial and technological settings. The project expects to reach 1 million farmers and 60 million potential consumers. RADIANT implements a suite of strategic and fully inclusive multi-actor engagement methods to co-develop solutions and tools to ensure that agrobiodiversity in the form of underutilised crops (UCs) is realised via Dynamic Value Chains (DVCs). RADIANT characterises DVCs as ’a system-state where open information sharing among all value-chain actors allows resilient adaptation to disruptions and sustainable economic development’. RADIANT adopts a ‘Theory of Change’ approach, where desired system-level states, such as crop diversification, environmental and agrobiodiversity preservation, and fair economic development are monitored and mapped to identify and implement the necessary transformation avenues. RADIANT’s 28 multi-actor consortium is composed of highly skilled value chain actors, researchers, and end-users. The scientific excellence of the work plan will release the value of UCs and enable a transformation towards sustainable DVCs that foster agrobiodiversity in educational, financial, technological settings and effectively provisions UCs to farmers’ fields and consumers’ tables. This will be achieved via eight complementary work packages to: identify, collect, and multiply the genetic resources of core UCs for breeding and farming; widen UC recognition by capturing their ecosystem services; enhance their processing by co-creating novel food and non-food products; invite stakeholders and aspiring participatory farmers into a capacity-building, mentoring-network to trial, test, and embed UCs in sustainable DVCs; co-creating Apps and ‘UC-Transition Diaries’ to record their transformation; and engage stakeholders to co-design policy instruments, and deliver a decision support tool to create sustainable avenues for DVCs. In sum, the RADIANT approach will empower value chain and policy actors to reach out to 1 million farmers and more than 60 million potential consumers to promote the uptake of UCs in farming, processing, manufacturing, and retailing practices.