One of QuantiFarm’s main objectives is that the project aims at developing policy recommendations on possible interventions that will allow the further uptake of DATs by farmers, to support sustainability and increase the competitiveness of the European agri-food sector. 

Against this background, the first Quantifarm policy event and workshop, was held at the beginning of the month, Tuesday 6 December 2022, organised by our partner Copa-Cogeca and took place in Brussels, Belgium, and QuantiFarm was there, with our project coordinator Nikolaos Marianos’ presentation about digital technology solutions in agriculture, bringing new insights to all participants!

The opening remarks were made by the moderator – Daniel Rossi, Chair of the Working Party on Research and Innovation, who set the scene with Initial reflections on policy recommendations for competitiveness and sustainability and highlighted the importance to have an open discussion about digital solutions for farmers and cooperatives.

Main Goals

The first event focused on the ambitions of the project and its methodology to highlight policy recommendations concerning financial, social, and environmental sustainability.

Through an accurate presentation of the project coordinator Nikolaos Marianos and a heated discussion on the main topic, we were able to gather feedback to formulate a set of recommendations for policy makers, on ways to maximise sustainability, and to stir the work on the policy towards the effective and coherent direction.

The event was focused on which way DATs deliver best sustainability performance and what kind of measures should be designed to promote this, by “encouraging” the farmers.

Participants Involved

The event involved partners from all countries, policy makers from the targeted policy areas, representatives of relevant organisations. Overall, approx. 60 people attended the event; Copa-Cogeca’s premise hosted 32 participants, while 28 people participated via Teams.

In the event the relevant policy makers took part, such as:

European Commission representatives:

  • – Orsolya Frizon Somogyi – DG AGRI
  • – Doris Marquardt – DG AGRI
  • – Sergi Querait

Agrifood Social Dialogue Membership.
Copa Cogeca – Senior Policy Advisor

  • – Christian Jochum
  • – Austrian Ministry – Wien
  • – Klaas Osinga
  • – Economic and Social Committee. EU

LTO – Senior Advisor
International Affairs

A comment by Doris Marquardt, European Commission, DG AGRI, Digitalization, Innovation, Agriculture and Rural Development:
“A very appreciated aspect of the project is the multi-actor approach:
By involving multiple actors in the decision-making process, it is possible to create solutions that are more comprehensive, adaptable, and effective. Additionally, the multi-actor approach can help to build trust and collaboration among different stakeholders, which can lead to better outcomes for all actors involved. That is why it is important to discuss the results of the project, which technologies in agriculture are effective on these results. It is important to understand the different disciplines and to try to connect them (science, agriculture and policy making) in order to have an independent evaluation. Raising awareness of the challenge facing agriculture is equally crucial.”

Future activities

The Confagricoltura team will publish an article about the 1° policy event on “Mondo Agricolo” the official monthly journal of Confagricoltura (60.000 hard copies and 140.00 mailed). As an information channel, Mondo Agricolo aims to promote the Association’s point of view on the events of the agricultural landscape and the association’s initiatives and collaborations carried out for the benefit of its broad membership.

In addition, we have prepared a Quantifarm report about the event also contains questions from the room; collected about 100 photos that will be shared with the rest of the project partners.

This is only the beginning, as our partners’ plans for the next few years are already underway! It is always our pleasure to travel inside and out the European borders and meet people, with whom we share the same vision and point of view. Stay tuned and discover what the future holds for the new year!