Sustainable Agricultural Production in the Mediterranean (see EUROPE 11629), where they published a PACMED 2025 action plan, proposing to set up five innovative, regional flagship initiatives through the mobilisation of institutional partnerships and co-financing.
The first initiative aims to establish a Mediterranean Compact for Sustainable Agriculture and Food. The second is Training for Zero Waste in the Mediterranean – Natural Resources, Food and Knowledge. The third is Mediterranean Empowerment Action for Young and Women in Rural Areas. The fourth is a Mediterranean Platform for Policy Dialogue on Rural Drivers of Migration. Finally, CIHEAM and CIHEAM Affiliated Centers aim to make a tangible contribution to the European Neighbourhood Policy. This will begin in 2017 and will boost regional complementarities in terms of scientific expertise and technical competence and enrich CIHEAM’s institutional linkage for its training, research and development work in the Mediterranean, with the hope of EU aid, particularly for research.
The Forum concluded that the Mediterranean region has immense political, economic, social and climate challenges, thus occupying a key role in international current events since many transitions are under way that position the Mediterranean as one of the main laboratories of the planet for building sustainable and more inclusive development. Action needs to be more sustainable and take account of the needs of the population and environmental constraints in the Mediterranean. This gives rise to a number of recommendations anchored in the deep conviction that there has to be investment in agriculture, fisheries and rural territories in the Mediterranean region. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)