Autor credit: ASCAME
The STAPLES Project came up with the aim at addressing issues related with the dependence of MENA countries on imported cereals and their consequent exposure to shocks from the value chain. Specifically, MENA countries are particularly exposed to international shocks in cereals markets because they largely rely on imports to feed their population. A deep understanding of such external shocks and stressors and coping strategies is fundamental for private actors to promptly react and adjust their plans accordingly and also for public actors to design resilience policies and strategies. We reflect on all these questions in the following interview with Ph.D. Marta Marson, Development Economist and member of the STAPLES Team from Politecnico di Milano.
What are the main challenges and opportunities within the cereal value chain?
International trade and global value chains make it possible for countries to specialize in different productions and, when food security is considered, they allow countries whose production is constrained by environmental or socioeconomic factors to rely on imported food. This is a very important opportunity, but it comes with challenges because it exposes the supply of food to shocks from foreign markets.
Why cereals are the key to food security in the Mediterranean?
Cereals are main component of the caloric intake of people in most countries and the staple foods of most food cultures are based on cereals. This can decrease when countries become richer and move towards animal-based products through the nutrition transition. However, it does not mean that cereals become less important. To the contrary, the amount of cereals that is required to feed animals can even contribute to increase the import requirements.
One of the main objectives is to empower local governments and economic stakeholders in addressing external stressors and shocks deriving from cereal global value chains on the MENA region. What are the main actions they both should take to achieve this goal? What are the main recommendations from STAPLES Project?
Effectively, the role of governments and public agencies is very important in this context because in most countries their interventions in the markets of cereals and derived products are very strong, because of the strategic importance already described. Alongside public actors, private economic actors are also operating in the domestic and international value chain. I feel it is not yet time to make strong claims about the recommendations from STAPLES Project because we just started its implementation few months ago. Nonetheless I would say that access to knowledge and information is the key to enable appropriate action by stakeholders and this a main component of STAPLES.
Why does the project focus on the MENA region? In what sense are Egypt and Morocco the countries with major vulnerability of their food systems? What are the main solutions to adopt in these two countries that could become a guidance for the other MENA countries?
Egypt and Morocco are important economies of the area. They strongly rely on imports, but they also have a domestic production and a potential to further develop it, which is not the case for some other countries of the region. Last, but definitely not least, three partners of the STAPLES consortium are from these countries, which is expected to secure to the project a deep understanding of the context and extensive networks of stakeholders. We must engage in co-creation, and we don’t want top-down solutions.
One of the strengths of the project is the diversity of stakeholders involved, including EU producers, smallholder farmers, and public bodies. What are their specific needs and how the project can address them?
Yes, we really target heterogeneous stakeholders and each of these groups has its internal diversity, because for example public bodies include local authorities, like the ones that regulate cereals’ prices, and public agencies, like the one in charge of public procurement of grains. Smallholders are also heterogeneous because the category includes both family farming and intensive farming by small scale commercial farms. And we also consider private actors like processing firms, traders and service providers along the value chain. Of course, each group has different needs but the idea, again, is that knowledge and information can allow each of them to make better decisions, in the domain of domestic agricultural production (crops selection, competition for water, mechanization) and in the domain of trade (partners, volumes, timing, …). These are among the needs that STAPLES can address.
Innovation plays a key role within this project. What are the main digital technologies and innovative solutions to develop in the region?
STAPLES is expected to develop a dashboard that provides relevant information to stakeholders about domestic and international supply of cereals and related products. Moreover, a tool to support relevant decision-making processes by the stakeholders will be prototyped based on the STALES research.
How do you value ASCAME’s contribution to this project?
The role of ASCAME in STAPLES is twofold. Firstly, by representing Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and the interests of private firms in these countries, ASCAME can provide the consortium with the state of the art of perceived needs of private actors from the sector and of their advocacy initiatives. Secondly, by putting academic partners in direct touch with the Chamber and their member firms, ASCAME can enable and facilitate the development of needs assessments and the validation of research outputs.
What are your main expectations at the end of the project? What goals can we achieve?
The STAPLES Project will identify, develop and make available many tools and solutions, as we discussed already. Then the expectation is that these tools and solutions, developed and validated with local stakeholders, are adopted and further developed beyond the project implementation period.