Call: Thematic Area 2-Farming systems in the Nexus

Livestock and aquaculture are key sectors where innovation in animal feed can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, curb nutrient pollution, improve resource-use efficiency, and valorise food system waste. These priorities are aligned with the European Green Deal, the New Circular Economy Action Plan, and the Vision for Agriculture and Food, which call for a fundamental transformation of farming systems toward sustainability, resilience, and circularity. This transformation includes creating fair income opportunities for producers, rewarding ecosystem services, and encouraging the engagement of young innovators in agriculture.

In the Mediterranean region, the sustainability of livestock and inland aquaculture systems is increasingly challenged by the high environmental and economic costs of conventional feed supply chains—particularly those reliant on imported cereals and fishmeal. These dependencies contribute to biodiversity loss, GHG emissions, pollution, and the overexploitation of natural resources, while exposing farmers to global market volatility. At the same time, the underutilisation of regional agri-food by-products and biomass residues represents a missed opportunity to close nutrient loops, reduce organic waste, and foster circular, place-based food systems.

The action aims to develop and validate sustainable, economically viable, and regionally adapted alternative feed solutions derived from locally available biomass, including agri-food waste streams. Proposed innovations should build on and advance existing knowledge and solutions from previous projects, including those supported under EU and PRIMA programmes, where relevant.

Projects are expected to validate the proposed feed solutions in (near-)operational environments (TRL 6–7), demonstrating their technical performance, added environmental value, and competitiveness relative to conventional feed systems, with the objective of progressing toward higher TRLs and investment-readiness for deployment at farm and value-chain scale.

Projects are expected to address at least three of the following activities:

• Co-develop and optimise alternative feed formulations based on regionally available biomass legume crops and agri-food waste streams (e.g., processing residues, by-products, bakery waste), ensuring nutritional adequacy, digestibility, safety, environmentally sustainability, and compliance with relevant EU and national regulations.
• Test and validate the selected feed solutions in (near-)operational environments (TRL 6–7), including livestock and/or aquaculture demonstration sites and Living Labs21, to assess technical performance, practicality, and adaptability across different production systems
• Assess the effects of the alternative feeds on animal health and welfare, productivity, and the quality and safety of animal-derived products, ensuring conformity with relevant regulatory standards.
• Conduct environmental and economic performance assessments, including: – Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (e.g., carbon footprint, water use, land use, biodiversity impacts), – Cost–benefit and competitiveness analysis compared to conventional feed chains, – Evaluation of contributions to circularity and resource-use efficiency.
• Develop strategies for scalability and commercialisation, including business and financing models, integration into local feed value chains, investment-readiness assessments, and engagement with market actors and potential investors.

In line with the award criteria for Innovation Actions, proposals will be assessed on the credibility of their pathways to impact, including the meaningful involvement and role of SMEs and other innovation actors, as well as on the economic and financial viability of the proposed feed solutions. Applicants are therefore expected to demonstrate cost-effectiveness, competitiveness with conventional feed systems, and scalability, supported by appropriate business and financing models and, where relevant, engagement with value-chain actors or investors.

Proposals should adopt a Multi-Actor Approach (MAA), ensuring that all key actors—end users, practitioners, SMEs, technology providers, researchers, and competent authorities—are meaningfully involved throughout the entire project lifecycle. This includes the definition of needs, co-design of solutions, testing and validation in real contexts, interpretation of results, and formulation of recommendations. Living Labs23 are encouraged ensuring their relevance to local socio-ecological contexts, and their feasibility under real operational conditions.

Proposals are expected to integrate relevant Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines to analyse socio-economic drivers, governance arrangements, and behavioural factors influencing the development and adoption of sustainable alternative feed solutions. This includes assessing farm-level decision-making, value-chain incentives, market acceptance, and cultural perceptions linked to animal-derived products.

Projects should define and monitor relevant social and behavioural outcomes, including PRIMA KPI 6 (e.g., cooperative governance models, social innovations, behavioural change in feed and farming practices). The SSH contribution should be clearly reflected in the work plan and methodology, stakeholder engagement processes (e.g., cooperatives, farmers, SMEs, feed producers, consumers), and impact pathways, including business and policy uptake. To support anticipatory and responsible innovation, consortia may use the Societal Readiness Thinking Tool (Bernstein et al., Science & Engineering Ethics, 2022) to systematically address societal needs, ethical considerations, and adoption pathways throughout the project lifecycle.