Commission lauches AgRI 2040 Strategy

On 8 September, the Commission adopted a Communication on a new Strategic Approach to Research and Innovation for competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems. This strategic document brings together two closely interlinked frameworks, to guide future research, innovation, deployment and uptake across the entire agri-food sector. These frameworks are AgRI 2040, focusing on agriculture, forestry and rural areas, and Food 2040, focusing on food systems, including fisheries and aquaculture. The Communication aims to strengthen the agri-food innovation ecosystem from early-stage research and innovation to deployment and market uptake, and to accelerate the uptake of knowledge and innovation across the entire sector.

AgRI 2040 will focus on agriculture, forestry and rural areas. Its eight preliminary areas of action will cover soils and agri-ecosystems, cropping and livestock systems, the bioeconomy, multifunctional forests, rural areas and stronger agri-food value chains, as well as digitalisation, artificial intelligence and robotics.

On 24-25 September the strategy was officially introduced at the EU AgRI 2040 Conference. The conference saw key notes from Commissioner Hansen and Commissioner Zaharieva, high-level panel discussions, an exhibition and break-out sessions. One of those sesssions focused on sustainable forestry and another on the bioeconomy.