Today more than half of the planet’s inhabitants live in cities and this is projected to increase. The world-wide migration of rural people to cities is particularly prominent in West Africa. This leads to increased practicing of peri-urban agriculture, supported by a) the lack of formal jobs and as a means of adding up to household income in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), b) the young generations of farmers are not willing to live in remote areas, c) initial stages of agriculture intensification in LMIC usually involves concentration of production in peri-urban areas. Even though intensified peri-urban farming has significant advantages, it also introduces concerns about zoonotic diseases, sanitary issues, local environmental degradation, antimicrobial resistance and more. Especially in LMIC, the intensification of food systems, as they transition from subsistence to market-oriented production, is typically associated with human health risks. URBANE is addressing this challenge of sustainable agriculture for food nutrition security, applying a One Health approach for tackling issues related to the application & intensification of peri-urban agriculture, as well as providing the necessary framework for its sustainable & safe application in different contexts. To achieve this, the project will be built around the principles of agroecology. URBANE is building on the extensive experience in agroecology of its partners whilst exploiting friendly tools & methods for measuring the progress & impact of the agroecological transition of farming. The URBANE approach will be demonstrated through 6 case studies in Africa, while its transferability in other regions will also be studied and facilitated through specific tools. New/ adapted business models will also be worked out for the URBANE case studies, that will act as lighthouse examples of how such business models can be - with suitable local adaptations informed by local specificities.

The major objective of the AFREQEN project is to increase the adaptability of higher and professional education system in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia in the field of renewable energies and environment. The mean is to develop professional aspects in education, and to implement a quality process of continuous improvement within the institutions of training and applied research. AFREQEN will thus contribute to sustainable development and to growing up of renewable energies in North and West Africa. AFREQEN aims to establish:- Bases for the acquisition of skills in quality management and in metrological control, by designing, testing and diffusing initial (I) and professional (P) training modules, including e-learning ones, with up-to-date knowledge in renewable energies : biomass, solar, wind ... The module construction will address the requirements issued from a study of the needs of the social, economic, agronomic and industrial sectors in the African transaharian region.- Capacities in the academic institutions for the implementation of the quality approach : for students at engineers, Master and Doctorate levels; for adults at manager (awareness) and professional (training sessions) levels; for research and technology transfer among researchers, teachers and other ‘staff from the academic area', with specific credits.- The networking of higher education institutions and research institutes in the partnering countries with the EU member states, using a previous sustainable and evolutive cloud platform of expertise and experience sharing, enlarged to new environmental technologies and to new African countries.The consortium brings together major actors in the partnering countries and relevant international institutions related to development.