Main Beneficiary/Lead Partner (MB/LP):
Local Action Group Eloro – Limited Liability Mixed Consortium Company – LAG Eloro (IT)
Partnership
LAG Eloro is a body governed by public law pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 2014/24 / EU of 26 February 2014 on public procurement; more specifically, a public-private non-profit limited liability consortium.
The LAG ELORO has been dealing with sustainable rural development since 1998, has participated, since its establishment, in multiple cooperation activities and has distinguished itself above all in the design and management of integrated local development initiatives and sustainability interventions in rural areas. The action of the LAG Eloro unfolds in two macro-areas: the one strictly linked to the support of local economies in rural areas (agricultural and agri-food, artisan, tourist, cultural, social, environmental, MSMEs economy, etc.), and the other one, related to cooperation with other rural areas in the inter-territorial, inter-regional, cross-border and transnational context.
The LAG Eloro pursues the objective of implementing all the necessary actions aimed at the integrated, sustainable and participatory development of the territories in which it operates; in particular: to bring public and private organisations out of isolation and stagnation; to consolidate and / or create income and jobs; to develop endogenous resources; to promote links between local actors with those ones of other Euro-Mediterranean regions; promoting synergies between community initiative projects and local initiatives; promoting cooperation for sustainable development.
The CREA – National Council for the Research in agriculture and the analysis of Agricultural Economy, in its research commissioned by the National Rural Network, such as the one published in March 2014 on cooperation between rural areas, places the LAG Eloro at the second place of the national podium for planning quality and at the first place of the regional podium for planning dynamism, above all thanks to the numerous cooperation projects it has carried out all along its years of experience.
Project Partner 1 (PP1):
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia – INAT (TN)
INAT is a public administrative body (EPCA); more specifically, an institute of higher education and agricultural research.
The mission of INAT, a pioneer of engineering schools in Africa and the Arab world, consists in the training of engineers, in the organisation of masters, doctorates, and in the production and dissemination of knowledge with research bodies and technical and professional centres.
The themes at the centre of INAT mission concern nutrition, health, the prevention of health risks, environmental protection, sustainable management of natural resources and the development of territories.
Its main skills are: advanced training, basic research, applied research, innovation, entrepreneurship, expertise, management of human and material resources. These skills are used in the service of sustainable agricultural development, technological, economic and social progress and the protection of health and the environment.
Project Partner 2 (PP2):
Olive Institute – Specialised Unit of Sousse – IO-Sousse (TN)
IO-Sousse is a public body headed by the ministries of agriculture and scientific research and charged with undertaking research, studies and experiments in order to develop and promote the olive sector at an agronomic, technological and economic level. It is responsible for carrying out the following missions:
– Organise and carry out research actions aimed at improving the production / productivity of the olive tree and fruit sector in semi-arid areas;
– Technical and economic studies;
– Development strategies in the areas of interest;
– Dissemination and exploitation of research results.
Its skills concern the improvement of the yield in olive plantations in relation to the socio-economic development of the country.
Project Partner 3 (PP3):
Regional Council of Agriculture, Rural Development and Mediterranean Fisheries – Regional Department of Agriculture – AAGR (IT)
The Department of Agriculture of the Sicilian Region is a regional public body that carries out planning activities in Sicily for agriculture and rural development, integrated programming, local development and transnational cooperation. Its interventions aim to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and the protection of the environment. It also deals with the enhancement, protection, promotion and dissemination of quality agri-food products, information, dissemination, transfer of innovation, technical assistance in agriculture and phyto-sanitary activities.
Project Partner 4 (PP4):
Agricultural Cooperative Society of Olive Producers – APO (IT)
APO is an interprovincial cooperative structure with territorial offices in Catania, Syracuse and Ragusa. Olive producers and all components of the olive oil production chain adhere to the APO, whether they are olive processing companies or different oil packers, and also various table olive producers. The function of the APO is to work for the improvement of production and cultivation techniques, for quality research projects, disseminate innovations, enhance the quality product and concentrate the offer.
In addition, various producers of table olives are also members, from some particularly suitable areas and for some cultivars that are appreciated by consumers for the quality of the preparation, the crunchy drupes and the pleasantly bitter taste. We refer to the Nocellara Etnea cultivar which bears fruit on the slopes of the most active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna.
To facilitate all this, the APO determines and applies the appropriate EU regulations, offers technical advice, implements development programs and updates.
Project Partner 5 (PP5):
Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries – UTAP (TN)
UTAP is a national trade union and development organisation that brings together operators from the agriculture and fisheries sectors. This agricultural organisation, founded in 1950, represents the culmination of an agricultural trade union movement born in 1920, with several attempts aimed at creating professional agricultural associations in some regions of the country.
It represents the producers of the agricultural and fishing sectors at the responsible bodies, in order to protect their interests and rights and it works for the organisation of the profession, the promotion and enhancement of the products of the various production chains in the sector, technically trains farmers by intensifying the training and dissemination cycles organised in their favour.
UTAP fulfils its role thanks to an organisational structure of approximately 10,500 elected officials across the country. It supports 919 sectoral unions and 220 local unions at the provincial delegation level, as well as 105 regional federations and 24 regional unions at the governorate level. Finally, it brings together 24 sectoral and specialised federations at national level.
Associate Partner 1 (AP1):
Italian-Tunisian Observatory SERving quality sustainable AGRIculture – SERVAGRI OBSERVATORY – (TN)
The SERVAGRI Observatory, based both in Tunisia and in Italy, is a cross-border non-profit association and aims at the development and promotion of sustainable quality agriculture by improving the quality, safety and environmental sustainability of the local production thanks to the sharing of know-how to guarantee the highest levels of quality, traceability, transparency and food safety, sustainable production, rural employment and a better quality of life in rural areas; to increase the added value and competitiveness of production by creating a common cross-border basket of traceable quality products under the single SERVAGRI brand, registered in both countries.
Associate Partner 2 (AP2):
Olive Tree Routes Cultural Foundation – OTR (GR)
The Olive Tree Routes is a cultural foundation that deals with discovery itineraries and intercultural dialogue around the theme of the olive tree, a universal symbol of peace and prosperity. These also take the form of cultural events and various activities, the aim of which is to enhance the history of this precious tree, for the benefit of the olive growing regions.
Its objectives are: dialogue between the peoples of the Mediterranean who share the culture and cultivation of the olive tree; inventory, enhancement and protection of the olive tree heritage; international promotion of olive civilisation for the benefit of local economies; creation of “synergies” between heritage, tourism and sustainable development.
The Olive Tree Routes Foundation was inaugurated in 1998 and is organised by a dynamic international network managed by the Cultural Foundation of the same name which includes numerous institutions, organisations, universities and chambers of commerce.
OTR has been awarded with numerous international prizes and awards, including that one of the UNESCO Executive Council as “International cultural itinerary of intercultural dialogue and sustainable development” (166th SESS. ExCo 2003) and by the Council of Europe as “European Cultural Itinerary” (2005).
Associate Partner 3 (AP3):
International Centre for Advanced Agronomic Studies of the Mediterranean – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier – CIHEAM-IAMM (FR)
The Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier is one of the four institutes of the International Centre for Advanced Agronomic Studies of the Mediterranean (CIHEAM), an international intergovernmental organisation created in 1962.
As for the IAMM, it is a teaching, training, research and development body that intervenes on agricultural and rural issues in the Mediterranean, dealing in particular with issues relating to agricultural and rural policies; the development of rural areas; the strengthening of supply chains and specifications of quality / niche / organic / local products; sustainable management of resources in a context of climate change.
Associate Partner 4 (AP4):
Agency for the Mediterranean Consortium Company with limited liability – ApM (IT)
ApM is a development agency that manages the “Mediterranean Rurality” platform, the collective quality mark of companies in the rural areas of the Mediterranean for the creation of an integrated offer, born thanks to the transnational cooperation project Mediterranean Rurality (LEADER+). This path continued with the inter-territorial cooperation projects “Mediterranean rurality – typical products, tourism and internationalisation – RAMSES, RADAMES and SALITIS (Axis 4 LEADER Approach – Measure 421)”, and “Sicily Value”, the platform of the experimental project “Network for the enhancement and marketing of the territorial offer”. The ApM is the holder of the certificate of conformity to the UNI EN ISO 22005: 2008 {RT-17 ACCREDIA} – Traceability of agri-food chains – n° 40758, issued by the CSQA certification body, for the agri-food chains concerning food in a series of products, including extra virgin olive oil.
Associate Partner 5 (AP5):
General Directorate of Agricultural Production – DGPA (TN)
DGPA is a national public administration, specifically a General Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries of Tunisia.
The General Directorate of Agricultural Production has the task of monitoring agricultural campaigns, promoting the sector and ensuring the introduction of new productive technologies and the improvement of production and productivity.
DGPA is responsible, in terms of promoting local products, to study, develop, promote new and organic crops and ensure the introduction of new techniques related to them, participate in the dissemination and simplification of modern means and techniques and participate in the development of divulgation programs. It is responsible for the development of the olive sector in Tunisia, the development of sectoral strategies and five-year development plans, as well as the organisation and monitoring of agricultural campaigns (production, processing, marketing).
Associate Partner 6 (AP6):
Regional Institute of Wine and Oil – IRVO (IT)
IRVO is a public body belonging to the Sicilian Region that has been operating for over 70 years in the viticulture and oenology sector. In 2007 IRVO was also recognised as a Research Body of the Sicilian Region and, in 2011, its area of expertise was extended to activities for the enhancement and promotion of extra virgin olive oil, enhancement and promotion of table olives, both produced and packaged in Sicily, certification, research and innovation in the olive oil supply chain.
Since 2012 IRVO has been appointed by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, as a Control and Certification Body for Sicilian PDO and PGI Wines and, in 2015, as the Public Body enabled to exercise the control functions provided for by Regulation (EU) 1151/2012, for the denomination of virgin and extra virgin olive oil “IGP Sicilia”, signed up in the register of PDO and PGI with EU Implementing Regulation 2016/1662 of 12 September 2016.
IRVO has logistical-instrumental means and professional agronomic, chemical, oenological and microbiological skills and a Multisite Laboratory based in Palermo, Marsala, accredited to n° 0376 by ACCREDIA (Unique National Accreditation Body).