Agricultural innovations in the Mediterranean area
The Mediterranean area is one of the most original and richest regions of the world in terms of biodiversity. Agriculturally speaking, it is impossible not to observe the variety of Mediterranean farming methods and products, their nutritional qualities and their attractiveness. At the same time, Mediterranean agriculture has great difficulty in valorising its potential and its advantages both economically and durably (lack of competitiveness, insufficient adaptation to new economic demands, lack of resource management, insufficient recognition of Mediterranean products, loss of jobs in the sector, etc.). Moreover, it is becoming more and more obvious that the Mediterranean Regions must play a central role in defining and implementing support policies for this sector. Based on the identity of Mediterranean agriculture, these policies must contribute to the creation of jobs and revenue within the sector while at the same time ensuring sustainability and integration in other territorial dynamics. The NOVAGRIMED project is intended to help these Regions to define and implement innovative, coordinated and collective support policies ensuring that the Mediterranean agricultural sector adheres to the goal of sustainable development. It calls on the different actors in the agricultural sector and combines the development of innovative physical actions with more strategic considerations which could contribute to the thought-process undertaken in the context of the CAP reform.