Enhancing farmer's profitability and resilience through innovations for diversified crops and value chains

Enhancing farmer's profitability and resilience through innovations for diversified crops and value chains

HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-05

Programme

Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

Call

Call 02 - single stage (2027) (HORIZON-CL6-2027-02)

Type of action

HORIZON-IA HORIZON Innovation Actions

Type of MGA

HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]

Forthcoming

Deadline model

Single-stage

Planned opening date

20 April 2027

Deadline date

23 September 2027 17:00:00 Brussels time

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• farmers are able to transition to diversified, resilient and innovative cropping systems, increasing their sustainability, competitiveness and promoting biodiversity conservation as well as climate adaptation and mitigation;

• profitability of farming is boosted through the adoption of diversified cropping systems and the development of local value chains as well as through the valorisation of crops by-products;

• awareness and knowledge/data exchange among actors on the benefits of diversified cropping systems for farmers and for downstream value chains across Europe is increased.

Scope:

Crop diversification supports farmers resilience to external shocks, be it economic, climatic, or market related. By reducing dependency on a single farmed crop, farmers can strengthen their competitiveness in an ever-changing agricultural landscape. The temporal and spatial diversification of crops through e.g. rotation and associations, are drivers for low-input, resource-efficient farming systems that can fulfil the need to produce food, feed, industrial products (e.g. bioenergy, biomaterials, biochemicals) and other ecosystems services. These diversified and low-input farming systems will emerge if clear benefits to farmers and society are demonstrated and if the downstream value chains are properly organized.

Proposals should: 

• develop, test and showcase innovative solutions as well as business and cooperation models with a focus on activities addressing the challenges to support farmers in diversifying their crop production, enhancing profitability, resilience and sustainability;

• assess the viability and impact of the practical implementation of the proposed innovations on the overall sustainability of farmers activities and businesses (economic, social and environmental). The climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection and restoration potential of the proposed innovations should be analysed;

• describe an exploitation pathway tailor-made for the developed innovations through the different necessary steps (e.g. market research, regulatory approvals and licensing, IP management, etc.) in order to accelerate exploitation of the results;

• provide support to farmers to transition to crop diversification, addressing the specific challenges of the sector and designing strategies to overcome them. Create diverse practice-oriented dissemination materials, such as audiovisuals, brochures, presentations, that showcase innovations in a creative way, incorporating artistic elements for engaging storytelling.

Activities must fall under the concept of the multi-actor approach and allow for adequate involvement of SMEs, technology developers, farmers and consumers. The involvement of farmers SMEs is crucial and should be fostered through targeted calls and financial support to third parties, particularly for SMEs developing and testing the proposed innovative solutions. Proposals should address various farming systems/approaches, one of which should be organic farming.

Proposals should allocate adequate resources to collaborate with topic projects funded under other topics in this work programme, in particular HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-03. Proposals should clearly explain how they will build on and not duplicate past and ongoing EU-funded R&I activities, including relevant projects and activities funded under the Horizon Europe Partnership ‘Agroecology’ and the EU Mission Soil.

The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, the EU Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production[1] and the Common Agricultural Policy.

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021DC0141R%2801%29

Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption (2026-27)

This destination will support the EU Commission priority ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’.

R&I will provide new knowledge and innovation in support of the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, built on the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, to ensure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of our farming, fisheries, aquaculture and food sector within the boundaries of our planet. The implementation of the Green Deal actions will continue to guide R&I in this destination to foster sustainable food systems, addressing potential trade-offs between economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability.

The R&I activities under this Destination will contribute to the ambitious objectives of the current CAP concerning the competitiveness and sustainability of feed, food and non-food production as well as additional future CAP policy priorities. More specifically, actions will contribute to the specific objectives of the CAP; EU action plan for the development of organic production; food safety regulations; sustainable use of pesticides requirements under the plant protection products framework; action plan against antimicrobial resistance; animal health and welfare legislations; legislative and non-legislative initiatives to enhance cooperation of primary producers and improve their competitiveness and position in the food chain; protein strategy; contingency plan for ensuring food supply and food security and communications on food security and fertilizers, the Nature Restoration Regulation, the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

R&I will also support the announced Vision for the Fisheries Sector with a 2040 perspective and the European Ocean Pact, a framework of coherence across all policies linked to the ocean. R&I will also be relevant to the outcomes of the evaluation of the common fisheries policy (CFP) and will support its placement under this Pact, as fisheries and aquaculture are affected by other ocean related policies.

An important driving force of food systems transformation should be the integration of sectors, actors (including citizens and consumers) and policies. This will involve a better understanding of the multiple interactions between the components of current food systems, to foster solutions that maximise co-benefits with respect to the priorities of Food 2030[1].

The EU Communication on Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the[2] EU provides an overview of the application of biotechnologies in several sectors including food and feed. R&I activities in this destination will also contribute to achieving the objectives of the Strategy for European Life Sciences, the EU Biotech Act, and the new EU bioeconomy strategy.

The Destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions[3].

Expected impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out credible paths to “ensuring healthy food and nutrition security by making agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture and food systems sustainable, resilient, inclusive and within planetary boundaries”. More specifically, proposed topics should contribute to one or more of the following expected impacts:

• agriculture and food systems contribute to ensuring a secure, safe, sustainable, nutritious, and affordable supply of healthy food in Europe and beyond by fostering its long-term competitiveness, resilience, scalability and sustainability within the boundaries of our planet with the One Health approach;

• farmers are empowered to ensure the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the farming sector, through increasing knowledge, tools, innovative solutions, and advice that allow efficient productivity, working for and with nature, preserving and restoring biodiversity within agricultural ecosystems and helping to decarbonise the EU economy;

• sustainable fisheries and aquaculture (in marine, brackish and freshwater) contribute to fair, healthy, resilient and environment-friendly food systems in healthy aquatic ecosystems with thriving diversity of species and habitats providing ecosystem and climate services and triggering growth and jobs’ creation in coastal and rural areas;

• tools are provided so that citizens and communities are empowered to make the sustainable food choices and move towards safe, healthy, nutritious, accessible, affordable and sustainable diets. Insights and advances in life science and digital & data technologies are valorised to deploy solutions in practice across the EU;

• food businesses, including food processing industries and SMEs, are supported to increase their resilience and competitiveness, while ensuring resource efficiency and sustainability, and human, animal and ecosystem health is preserved.

[1] The four priorities of Food2030 are: 1) nutrition and health; 2) climate and environmental sustainability; 3) circularity and resource efficiency; and 4) innovation and empowering communities.

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52024DC0137.

[3] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions.

General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions

The following additional eligibility criteria apply: the proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in this work programme part.

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP). The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions

described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):

Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System

Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)

Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations

Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) 

Guidance

HE Programme Guide 

Model Grant Agreements (MGA)

Lump Sum MGA 

Call-specific instructions 

Detailed budget table (HE LS) 

Information on financial support to third parties (HE) 

Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

Additional documents:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes

HE Programme Guide

HE Framework Programme 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions 

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

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