The European Commission is launching a call for experts for three new EIP-AGRI Focus Groups. Focus Groups are temporary groups of selected experts focusing on a specific subject, sharing knowledge and experience. Each Focus Group meets twice and produces a recommendations and outcomes report within a year.
Description of the Focus Groups
Focus Group: ‘New feed for pigs and poultry’
First meeting: 7-8 June 2018
The pig and poultry sectors use substantial amounts of compound feed and this is what largely defines their environmental footprint. The Focus Group will look at on-farm and off-farm production, as well as large-scale centralised and smaller-scale decentralised processing systems. Several of these alternatives could offer promising solutions to increase the circularity of livestock production systems and reduce their environmental impact.
Focus Group: ‘Protecting fruit production from frost damage’
First meeting: 27-28 June 2018
Despite rapid technological advances, open field agriculture remains highly dependent on weather and climate. Because of climate change, frost damage has become more and more frequent in recent decades and this is increasingly causing economic losses in agricultural production. The Focus Group will look at examples of good practices and technologies and how these can be transferred to other situations to benefit the wider sector, paying special attention to approaches related to mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Focus Group: ‘Reducing food loss on the farm’
First meeting: 12-13 September 2018
Around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the EU, with associated costs estimated at 143 billion euros. The EU and Member States are committed to halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030 and reducing food losses along the food production and supply chains. This Focus Group will concentrate on the on-farm practices and technologies that have a potential to limit the loss of plant food products in the European Union and that can provide inspiration for Operational Groups supported under the Rural Development Programmes.
More information
You can find all the relevant information here and start your application here (practical experience, familiarity with the topic, motivation, qualifications, etc.). The deadline for applications is Tuesday 3 April 2018 23:59 hrs CET (Brussels time).
Each Focus Group consists of up to 20 experts: farmers, advisers, scientists and representatives from industry, civil society or other relevant actors. Experts will be chosen by DG AGRI according to their qualifications, based on proven expertise to support the progress of the Focus Group.
The EIP-AGRI Service Point provides travel and accommodation for Focus Group participants, see terms and conditions here. Please note that there will be no translation, it is essential that group members are able to express themselves in English. Selected experts will need to be available to participate in both meetings.
If you are interested in becoming an expert member in the name of Euromontana in any of these focus groups, please contact Marie Clotteau.
5 March 2018
