"Two heads are better than one," as the saying goes. But what if there were 18 partners working on a single issue? This is a definite victory. You have a better chance of developing a plan that will enable your company to overcome a setback or obstacle if you brainstorm as a team.
Let's have a look at this one single issue.
In order to speed up the systemic transition to climate-smart agriculture and advanced farming technology, the project aims to alter the way current agrifood systems function. The project will provide an integrative inventory of behavioural insights about the full range of "lock-ins" and levers that hinder or motivate behavioural change, including individual, systemic, and policy factors. This will be accomplished through targeted selection of agrifood value chains throughout the EU and by involving multiple stakeholders in the co-creation of systemic innovations, in the context of appropriate behavioural and experimental settings. To take into account the variety of agrifood systems and conditions in the EU, five different food systems will be examined. These systems represent the major crop and livestock farming systems in Europe (cereals, dairy, stone fruits, livestock, and vegetables) in various EU regions (Western, Eastern, Southern, and Northern Europe). Through business strategies and policy recommendations, the behavioural insights are exploited to create transformative paths that will promote the transition to healthy and environmentally friendly food systems.
The need for more robust food systems that are self-sufficient has been brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all efforts, the adoption of sustainable practices is still low, with only 8.5% of Europe's total agricultural land being used for organic farming and adoption rates for smart farming technology ranging from 10% to 50%.
1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually, or one-third of all food produced worldwide, in the production, post-harvest, processing, retail, or consumer handling phases. To encourage the adoption of climate-sensitive farming and smart agricultural technologies, behavioural changes are crucial.