LEAP-Agri: EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership
LEAP-Agri is an African Union – European Union partnership between thirty partners aimed at research and innovation for Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA). The partnership has awarded funds to 27 projects; in 14 projects a Dutch team is involved.
The LEAP-Agri partnership is an ERA-NET co-fund financed by institutes and ministries from 18 European and African countries with additional finances from the European Commission in support of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on science, technology and innovation and the implementation of the jointly funded EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership.
LEAP-Agri Call for Proposals
The LEAP-Agri call invited consortia composed of at least four research organizations and/or private and public practitioners from four of the partner countries (two African and two European) to submit project proposals for research and innovation in the countries concerned with an added value for the EU-AU partnership on FNSSA. The project development and execution should be driven by local demand and include an approach that contributes to enhancing impact. Three main topics of the call are:
- Sustainable agricultural production intensification, in relation with social, economic and environmental aspects, including aquaculture;
- Population nutrition and health in relation with agriculture and food systems;
- Access to food, expansion and improvement of agricultural markets and trade, including local and territorial dynamics.
LEAP-Agri funded projects
The 27 awarded projects involve 250 African and European teams from 20 countries. Each national team in all 27 projects is funded by its national funding agency. Some European funding agency decided to contribute to the funding of African teams.
Projects started their activities on September 1, 2018, for a 36 months duration. Please find a description of all projects in this LEAP-Agri information booklet.
Please find here a list with projects in which the Netherlands is involved.
Kick-off meeting
All 27 LEAP-Agri projects participated in the Kick-off Meeting from October 8 to 10, 2018 in Bari, Italy, organized by CIHEAM. With an average of three members per project, 22 funding agencies (of the 24) were represented during the meeting. Furthermore, there were three European Commission representatives from DG Research, DG DEVCO and DG Agri.
The main objective of the seminar was to build a platform strengthening the LEAP-Agri community in order to have a common focus.
During the event, all projects had the opportunity to present their project, combining a pitch presentation, a poster session and an information note. Other activities included:
- Discussions between projects teams and their funding agencies, to facilitate interaction and to solve ongoing questions if needed.
- Networking sessions in cluster groups to share concerns within projects and to create research teams’ networks.
- Session on the projects’ Monitoring and Evaluation and Impact Pathway (M&E), for reaching impact beyond the project level.
- Presentations by EC representatives related to the EU-AU Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) and renewed energy, and the LEAP-Agri global context.
The two-day meeting was very productive and created a real LEAP-Agri spirit. The event ended with the formation of an “FNSSA Funders and Research Alliance”.
Background information
- A “LEAP-Agri project booklet” with all 27 projects presentation was distributed to participants.
- All documents related to the meeting (concept note and agenda, presentations, participants, closing remarks) can be found on the LEAP-Agri website.
