Expected outcomes: 

• Contribute to the implementation of the short- and medium-term actions of the joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda, particularly in the area of Green (notably actions (4) and (5) among short-term actions and (1) and (3) for medium-term actions), 

• Translating R&I efforts into tangible business, products, services, development and quality employment opportunities and social economy enterprises in Africa and Europe.

• Contribute to the implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) adopted R&I roadmaps pertaining to climate change, particularly in the areas impact of water scarcity and drought in rural areas, sustainable agriculture production and biodiversity in changing climate.

• create synergies with the project resulting from the call “HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-16: Developing a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) supporting the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership”.

Scope: 

• Set up living labs and light houses as places for testing and demonstrating agroecological approaches in different pedoclimatic conditions in Africa;

• Carry out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation activities in living labs with agricultural actors (e.g. researchers, farmers, advisors, policymakers), including on socio-economic aspects to support sustainability transitions and upscaling, to seek practical agroecological solutions to the climatic and biodiversity challenges/opportunities identified;

• Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on agroecology and that may be converted into lighthouses;

• Strengthen interactions between existing living and new labs, light houses and like-minded arrangements on agroecology to share lessons and facilitate science policy interfaces using where relevant existing network arrangements.

• Implement the ‘multi-actor approach’ to ensure the adequate involvement of the farming sector, civils society and relevant policy actors.

• Ensure that gender dimension and social categories (e.g. disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnic and/or cultural origins, sexual orientation) and their intersections, are duly considered.

In total, two projects will be funded, with the European Union providing the funding.

Budget per project: Around € 6.000.000,00

Call deadline: 4 September 2025/ 18 February 2026, 17.00 CET

Funding rate 

• RIA: (100% profit and non-profit) - TRL 3-5