During the conference in Brussels, the four organisations joined forces to organize for the second time a pan-European multi-stakeholder meeting to review the state of play of research and innovation for the fruit and vegetables sector. The event gathered close to 100 experts and aimed at further reinforcing the successful cooperation between the four organisations and offering a unique platform for discussion between business representatives, researchers, and representatives of the European institutions.
From the discussion, both fruit and vegetable business representatives and researchers endorsed the multi-actor approach that is demanded in many Horizon 2020 calls. Involving different types of actors in a consortium not only ensures a more practical focus on the real problems on the ground, but also allows for a fruit and vegetable supply chain perspective. However, the trend towards broad, multi-product projects cannot highlight the sector’s specific problems: diversified products, perishability, different areas of production with specific challenges such as drought, and the sector’s added value in relation to health and sustainability. The sector laments that fruit and vegetables remain under-represented within Horizon 2020, and that this is not reflecting the size of the sector in the economy and its societal and health benefits. After the conference, the Task Force renewed its intention to continue working for better representation of the sector in successful EU funding programmes.
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