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UfM, CIHEAM and PRIMA meeting
CIHEAM > AGENDAS > UfM, CIHEAM and PRIMA meeting

Meeting between the UfM, the CIHEAM and PRIMA on Sustainable and Innovative Food Systems in the Mediterranean

10 March 2020, Union for the Mediterranean, Barcelona, Spain 

On Tuesday 10 March, Mr Nasser KAMEL, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)  has received Mr Plácido PLAZA, Secretary-General of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) and Mr Octavi QUINTANA TRIAS, Director of the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) in the presence of Mr Isidro GONZALEZ AFONSO, Deputy Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) for Water, Environment and Blue Economy at the Headquarters of the UfM in Barcelona.

Mr Isidro GONZALEZ AFONSO, Mr Octavi QUINTANA TRIAS, Mr Nasser KAMEL, Mr Plácido PLAZA (Barcelona, Spain, 10.03.2020)

The discussions focused on their current and future collaborations in the field of innovative, inclusive and sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean.

 

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the current partnerships and the coming joint initiatives will aim to:

  1. Support food systems in the Mediterranean that contribute to the sustainability of food production methods and consumption patterns;
  2. Integrate innovative practices allowing agriculture and fisheries to achieve the identified climate and environmental objectives;
  3. Enhance research on the Nexus “Territory-Water-Food”;
  4. Invest in the education and training of vulnerable groups including young people and women in rural and agricultural areas.

Exchanges in line with the CIHEAM's strategic priorities

 

The exchanges were fully in line with the CIHEAM's strategic priorities.

Indeed, the development of more sustainable, more inclusive and more innovative food systems and agriculture are cross-cutting objectives of the CIHEAM strategic framework (CAPMED 2025) and for which its five bodies (General Secretariat, CIHEAM Bari, CIHEAM Montpellier, CIHEAM Zaragoza, CIHEAM Chania) provide training, capacity building, research and cooperation activities.

 

In May 2019, following the 2nd World Conference on the Revitalisation of the Mediterranean Diet that was held in Palermo (Italy) as an affiliated project of the United Nations ONE PLANET Programme for sustainable food systems, the CIHEAM, the FAO and the UfM have expressed their interest in setting up a joint multi-stakeholder platform on food systems in the Mediterranean.

 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the CIHEAM and the UfM on 2 October 2014. Renewed in 2017, this agreement particularly focused on the development and the strengthening of their bilateral cooperation in the fields of higher education and research, environment and water.

 

The themes have recently been broadened to include related subjects such as innovations at the service of agriculture and food security, migration and mobility, climate or even the employability of young people and women empowerment in the Mediterranean.