We have begun an audit of agrobiodiversity in supermarket and short food supply chains in all partner countries. This audit will map the genetic agrobiodiversity of crop/animal species and varieties, as well as how the production of these foods is likely to affect the surrounding biodiversity of non-crop species. Increasing these types of biodiversity could increase yield resilience (to climate change, pests, diseases, etc.), lower the need for environmentally damaging inputs (like pesticides/fertilizers), and enable a whole host of crucial ecosystem services (such as pollination and soil health maintenance). This initial assessment will be the first step in understanding how different types of food supply chains support and hinder different types of agrobiodiversity.
FOOdIVERSE Consortium started cooperation with the “Pro Science” PR Agency. Our partner is the first PR Agency in Poland that specializes in working with the science, R&D, and education communities. “Pro Science” team will support us in conducting communication activities on a global scale, creating the visual identification of our project and realisation of the communication plan.
Members of FOODiVERSE Consortium met online on 28th April, 2021. The main topic of the meeting was defining concepts which will be used in particular work packages. Partners discussed how to understand diversity in different dimensions of the food system. They worked on definitions of agrobiodiversity, biocultural diversity, diversity in economy and policies concerning food.
On March 10th, 2021 the FOOdIVERSE team was complete and held a successful kick-off meeting. Even though the meeting had to take place online we were able to have four discussion sessions in small groups on concepts, communication, organisational matters and the impact of COVID-19 on the organization of the work packages. Plans were made about the projects´ first steps: Groundwork had to be done to conceptualize diversity in food systems: The first joint task was established to define central aspects of the project, i.e. (sustainable) food systems, types of diversity and foodscapes.