The FCI4Africa project champions a holistic approach to African agriculture, promoting fair, sustainable, climate-neutral, and health-promoting trading practices while ensuring economic prosperity at all levels and respecting human rights. It bridges the gap between technical compliance and social justice by empowering smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises, facilitating trade compliance through a digital platform, and enhancing food safety. By evaluating the impact of certification criteria like deforestation-free, organic, and fair trade, and guiding policymakers, FCI4Africa fosters a just transition for African farmers, processors, and traders, expanding their intra-African, and EU trading opportunities. Leveraging past projects and cutting-edge technologies, FCI4Africa connects stakeholders across diverse regions and jurisdictions, paving the way for a more sustainable and equitable African agricultural sector.

Nematodes and weevils of banana with Panama disease globally affect food security, causing yearly crop losses for many billion € in Canary Islands, Caribbean and Africa. These threats concomitantly affect crops in tropical and sub-tropical systems. In regions such as Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) millions of farmers rely on cooking banana, plantain and ensete as starch staple food crops and for income. Pesticides no longer represent a sustainable option for control, and many have been progressively withdrawn from use in the EU or are highly restricted, due to harmful effects on the environment and toxic residues. In SSA, where phytosanitary policies and regulations are often less effective, such pesticides are still being (mis)used, posing a significant threat to vulnerable farmers and consumers. In the absence of long term strategies or suitable control methods, and under the influence of changing climates in tropical and subtropical regions, the banana crops are becoming ever more exposed to pathogens and pests due to higher multiplication rates and prevalence induced by temperatures and rainfall patterns. The principal outcome of this project will be to achieve sustainable intensification of Musa spp. and ensete crops, through identification, development and implementation of IPM based on beneficial microorganisms. MUSA proposes, in a holistic view, IPM methods based on microbial consortia and banana germplasm, studying the plant reactions (phenotypic and molecular) to different biotic stresses. This will be achieved by screening, testing and evaluating in the field, selected banana lines, in an attempt to identify (via transcriptomic analyses) the principal genes involved in driving a resistant/succumbent response, and the interaction with beneficial microorganisms. The latter include endophytes and biocontrol agents (EBCAs) integrated with plant germplasm to develop information-based IPM strategies through field trials.

The Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) proposal is designed to address food safety challenges in Africa. Focus is given to addressing food safety issues associated with weak channels for value chain organisation, traceability & authentication of safe food. Food safety challenges addressed include mycotoxin contamination in multiple food crops including food and feed, pesticide residues in grains and vegetables, microbial contamination particularly Escherichia coli contamination, and food adulteration of foods. The aim of the proposed proposal is to improve African food safety systems – with particular attention to the informal sector – through local market transformation enhancing food security and regional trade while reducing negative impacts on the environment, biodiversity, health and society. to By utilizing expertise, skills, networks and tools available within the consortium comprising partners based in Africa and Europe, we aim to address food safety challenges through policy development & implementation of existing policies, implementation of strategies uplift the informal sector using a combination of tools, approaches to transform the informal sector to a mezzanine status utilizing digital tools, communication of strategies, utilization of sound scientific, social and technological approaches. Tools in physical sciences, social science and humanities including in behavioral science, One Health, preservation of biodiversity is given attention in the proposal through implementation of interdisciplinary approaches that given consideration to human, animal, environmental and plant health. By employing strategies that meet "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The proposed project will leverage on activities of other projects in previous and current EU projects and involve collaboration with the Joint Research Center especially as EC, Knowledge Center for Global Food and Nutrition Security.