TUNIS - The project TRANSDAIRY (TRANSborder Key Enabling Technologies and Living Labs for the DAIRY value chain), funded by the European Union as part of the program ENI CBC Med, will be launched on October 23 in videoconference with the aim of improving the sector across the Mediterranean through the creation of transborder living labs and specialized start-ups.
The project, which lasts 30 months with a total budget of 3.8 million euros, 90% of which is funded by the EU, will create Living Labs for the milk sector. The Living Labs, mainly created for youths and women, will support the creation of new companies and economic activities for the dairy sector, from production to consumers. The project will provide financial support for the creation of start-ups, the registration of patents, publications, training courses and workshops in total of eight living labs distributed across the Mediterranean (Italy, Lebanon, Greece and Tunisia).
Transdairy, coordinated by the University of Campania ''Luigi Vanvitelli'', is aimed at boosting technological transfer between research, industry and small and medium-seized firms in the sectors of Key Enabling Technologies applied to the dairy production chain, through the creation of Living Labs, the increase of institutional capability and the development of market intelligence for the sustainability and consolidation of spin-offs.
The project in particular is promoted in a context that registered protests in Tunisia this summer by Tunisian breeders.
The protests ended with the concession by the agriculture ministry of an increase in milk prices. ''Certainly, the road to solve this sector's problems, at least in Tunisia, is to increase productions in quantity and quality. This is to give more income to farmers. The project intends to contribute to this. Many Italian agencies of cooperation (both non-profits and private ones) are engaged in cooperation actions to improve the condition of farms in Tunisia, with actions both co-funded by Italian Cooperation and, as in this case, funded by the European Union'', explained to ANSA Giuliano Ragnoni, involved in various cooperation projects in Tunisia.
The partnership includes research institutes, government organizations and small and medium-sized companies including, along with the University of Campania ''Luigi Vanvitellu'', the National Research Council-Istituto di Scienze dell'Alimentazione, Kontor 46; for Greece the university of agriculture in Athens and the Institute of communication and computer systems; for Tunisia the Agency for the promotion of agricultural investments, the Agency for the promotion of industry and innovation and the engineering school of Medjez El Bab; for Lebanon the Institute for industrial research, Berytech Foundation.
