Biodiversify aims to make the proof of concept that high species diversification (HSD) effectively provides ecosystem services in substitution for external inputs for improving agroecosystem sustainability and resilience. While these principles are well known, they are still little exploited in practice. Yet, HSD may increase food security and the health of farmers and ecosystems. Three production systems covering a large land use area and a wide gradient of pedo-climatic conditions of the Mediterranean region, farming systems and socio-economic contexts are considered: 1) arable cereal-based systems, 2) vineyards, and 3) olive-based systems. The project will consider conventional and traditional farming in rainfed and irrigated zones located in six countries (Algeria, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Tunisia). Biodiversify will organise a network of eight case studies that will define key questions to be addressed at the regional and farm levels. Solutions will be co-designed and co-evaluated through participatory workshops. A gradient of HSD solutions based on spatio-temporal species diversification will be analyzed using 1) legumes and neglected species in rotations, 2) multi-service cover crops during fallow period, 3) intercropping of cereal-legume mixtures for grain and forage, and 4) agroforestry for olive-based systems. Biodiversify will support a wider use of species and germplasm/cultivars, including traditional populations from the Mediterranean basin. Complementary approaches and methods including field experiments, knowledge synthesis and modelling will be used to design and assess current and HSD farming systems. Biodiversify will produce a portfolio of scientific and practical information for farmers and stakeholders to foster the adoption of HSD farming systems. It will also communicate towards the society and policy-makers to explain the benefits of developing a sustainable HSD agriculture to address current environmental and social challenges.

Population without access to electricity is set to increase again in 2020 after 6 years of decline in Africa. The number of people gaining access to electricity in Africa has increased greatly: the number of people without access to electricity dropped from almost 860 million in 2018 to 770 million in 2019, a record low in recent years . Nonetheless, past progress is being reversed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to tackle this, the present proposal will demonstrate innovative, reliable and adapted sustainable energy solutions based on the valorization of biomass wastes from agriculture and the food industry through biomass gasification. REFFECT AFRICA will adapt and optimize these technologies to a wide variety of biomass wastes: olive mill residues, almond hulls and husks, millet, rice, sorghum or peanut wastes and sugarcane bagasse, among others locally available. Three full- scale demonstrators will be built in Morocco, Ghana and South Africa to consider both urbanized and rural contexts in Africa, on- and off-grid solutions, as well as different socio-economic backgrounds. The project will carry out comprehensive LCA and LCC of each supply chain and will consider the climate adaptation and mitigation potential of this technology compared to other technologies and solutions in the African social, economic and environmental contexts. REFFECT AFRICA will tackle the development of renewable energy sources, providing solutions for on-grid and off-grid communities, and their integration into the existing energy system. It will consider the generation of renewable energy, the transmission, and the use of storage systems.With the aim to closing all water- energy-food links, the project will work on obtaining biochar from the gasifier, and will be improved to provide a valuable fertilizer to local farmers. The demonstrators will include a robust but reliable water laboratory to provide their location with basic but often lacking testing services.

Large areas of agricultural land in W. and N. Africa are heavily degraded, with water scarcity, low soil fertility and poor plant health, due to use of unsuitable agronomic systems and inappropriate management. In W. Africa, poor water, organic matter and nutrient retention limit food productivity, whilst in N. Africa, salinisation, wind erosion, formation of crusts and compaction threaten rainfed cropland and silvopasture. The low food productivity, poor resilience and unsustainability of current approaches have severe socioeconomic and environmental consequences. The overall goal of SustInAfrica is to empower smallholder farmers, small and medium enterprises and various government and non-governmental organisations in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Egypt and Tunisia to successfully intensify food production and deliver ecosystem services in a sustainable and resilient manner. This will be achieved through: A) comprehensive analysis of i) local/regional target ecosystems; ii) currently applied and potential landscape, soil, water and plant health management strategies and agronomic systems; iii) relevant actors across supply/value chains; iv) business models and policies; v) challenges and threats to production; B) development of technologies, including a smart platform supporting farmers in decision-making, concerning factors assessed in A); C) implementation of field trials at target sites, combining traditional knowledge, sustainable strategies and systems (agroecology, agroforestry, organic farming) and modern technologies (developed apps/platform); D) communication/dissemination/education/training to inform stakeholders/consumers and empower smallholders (especially women/youths); E) exploiting/continuing approaches/technologies for improved productivity/ecosystem services, long-term self-sufficiency beyond the project, reduced hunger/poverty and gender/wealth disparity, reduced environmental impact, long-term local food sectors growth/increased economic benefit.