Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Long-term Europe-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture

Titre : TECHONEY : Development of a blockchain-based ecosystem that allows an improved positioning of small producers of honey on local and international markets

Pays/Région : Spain ; Tunisia ; France ; Italy ; Morocco ; Turkey ; Algeria ; Luxembourg

Date : Start date 2021-05-01// End date 2024-04-30

Identifiant : 480-TECHONEY
Type de projet : Development and innovation oriented (research) project

Contexte
The European beekeeping sector does not enjoy self-sufficiency, as it only provides 64% of the honey marketed in its territory, importing honey to cover its domestic consumption, mainly from China. Honey prices continue to fall, and there are no adequate tools, such as the absence of clear origin labelling and the problem of adulterated honey. A significant percentage of imported honey is adulterated, and the reduction of the price of honey in the Med’s major producing countries has put beekeepers in a difficult position. Food fraud is rampant in honey production and has devastating consequences. The economic damage to beekeepers who produce authentic honey is approximately $1 billion. Consumers often think they consume local honey when a proportion of it is a blend of national and foreign honey, often adulterated. In the Med. countries, especially in rural areas, there is a lack of quality labelling systems and traceability, which does not allow the small beekeepers to be identifiable by consumers along the food supply chain. About 20% of the honey is declared as blended EU honey or unblended honey with a geographical reference related to a member state suspected of containing added sugar.

Présentation
TECHONEY’s main objective is to identify strategies and establish lines of resilience to the new challenges determined by the COVID-19 pandemic for beekeepers in the Med agricultural systems through the implementation, definition, enhancement and transfer of competitive, profitable, efficient and trustful honey supply-chain alternatives that address beekeepers’ capacities and attractiveness to fulfil consumer needs on unexpected food market changes. The project proposes developing a traceability system to guarantee the quality and safety of honey within the supply chain for more effective communication to consumers and to strengthen access to different markets (e-commerce, direct sales, etc.).

Objectifs
The specific objectives (SO) are the following
* map the current added-value chains and complexity level for honey products in five case studies by honey innovation and learning living lab
* increase the competitiveness and power of the beekeeping supply chain by understanding consumers’ and retailers’ opinions and acceptance
* to promote the traceability to differentiate local honey produced in the Med by the characterisation of local honey
* development of a new “Multichannel distribution” e-commerce platform and unique traceability ecosystems and effective business models across different stakeholders
* maximise the exploitation and transference of the findings by creating a website ITC Tool
* Maximise outreach and beneficial influence of the project results and reach the target users (beekeepers, small-scale food manufacturers and local distributors, canteens and retailers, local public authorities) through an effectively established communication and dissemination plan, including innovative training capsules

Coordinateur : Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA)
Partenaires : Center for Agro-Food Economics and Development (CREDA) University of Tizi Ouzou Laboratoire d’Informatique Gaspard-Monge JASSP SAS University of Naples Federico II Sapienza University of Rome Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) National School of Agriculture (ENA-Meknes) Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Beni Mellal (USMS) Faculté de Sciences de Tunis (FST) National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (INAT) Ordu University

Financement principal : Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) (H202
Budget : 1 248 531 EUR

FNSSA project database