Agri-Food Value Chain

Mediterranean agri-food value chains suffer from inappropriate logistic infrastructure, as well as a lack of safety, quality and traceability standards. Supply irregularity, low rates of innovation and management, and poor marketing and communication skills make it difficult for businesses, especially SMEs, to meet consumers’ requirements. This renders local products uncompetitive with respect to imported products, creating dependence on international markets. Sustainable food processing, including adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet, could make local products more competitive and create new trade opportunities. Ensuring food security in the Mediterranean also means considering nutrition, as a diet.

The Mediterranean food industries produce and process large quantities and varieties of products, often with unique qualities by virtue of Mediterranean natural advantage and local knowledge. However, most of such processes, often of small scale, operate in inefficient and unsustainable settings with recurrent food safety issues. Integration of smallholders and producers into the formal supply channels is a major challenge for Mediterranean food ecosystems. Improving the Agrofood supply chain management is highly needed to shorten the value chain in order to link producers to urban markets, reduce post-harvest food losses, and control quality, safety, and traceability throughout the food chain.