OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the VALUMICS project is to provide decision makers throughout food value chains with a comprehensive suite of approaches and tools that will enable them to evaluate the impact of strategic and operational policies to enhance the resilience, integrity and sustainability of food value chains for European countries. This overall objective is divided into specific aims, which are associated with the four operational phases of the project where key activities have been defined, and these are supported by efficient project management and communication strategies to achieve the overall objective

The project aims are arranged into four operational phases that carry the work forward:

1

Phase 1 - Development phase

Fundamental groundwork
2

Phase 2 - Integration phase

Case studies, data gathering, primary and secondary analysis
3

Phase 3 - Exploration phase

Integrated quantitative model leading to future studies
4

Phase 4 - Policy and use phase

Fit for purpose tests and scenarios

Develop approaches and tools to analyse the structure, dynamics, resilience and impact of food chains on food security, economic development and the environment.

Explore the impact of public regulations (quotas, subsidies, public procurement policies etc.) and private initiatives (certification, Corporate Social Responsibility, marketing, retailer standards, fair trade etc.), which have shaped these food chains to assess the conditions under which these interventions enhance or not resilience, integrity and sustainability.

Analyse the suitability of selected indicators to capture the evolution of resilience, the sustainability and the integrity of a set of major food value chains across Europe, and their transformative capacity.

Develop an integrated modelling approach and use for the analysis of external and internal drivers influencing the performance of food value chains and demonstrate options for improved business strategies.

Build foresight scenarios to reflect on the possible evolution of those food chains and on the kind of public, private and civil society instruments that would enable enhancing their desirable outcomes or counteract their negative impacts.