The “MAMi- Mediterranean and African Markets Initiative” project is promoted by the World Farmers Markets Coalition in collaboration with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM of Bari), with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The project focuses on alternative food networks and, more specifically, farmers markets. Because farmers markets involve direct relationships between producers and consumers and promote local food, they guarantee the stabilization of producers’ incomes, protect biodiversity and the environment, and strengthen communities and rural and urban linkages. In fact, it is increasingly believed that farmers markets are the symbol of an agricultural, modern, entrepreneurial, multifunctional and sustainable model capable of making an effective contribution to worldwide food security and sovereignty.
Over the next 3 years, MAMi aims to create 50 farmers markets with the involvement of more than 1,000 farmers, thanks also to the emergence of new professions, those of market managers, in five countries stretching from the Mediterranean to sub-Saharan Africa (Lebanon, Tunisia, Kenya, Egypt and Albania). A capacity-building model capable of responding to the needs of different territorial contexts ranging from technical assistance to strengthen existing entities, to the development of new markets where none exist or where small efforts show promise.
The project was launched last October at the Coldiretti Village in Rome in the presence of several authorities, and in early January, the first classroom training will be held at the prestigious headquarters of Ciheam in Tricase, in which sector representatives from the five target countries will participate in order to acquire, including through guided visits to established farmers markets, the necessary skills on systems based on local food consumption. This will be challenging work that will begin with an analysis of the different national contexts, continue with the assessment of needs until concrete actions are put in place to lay the foundations for the spread of a system of short supply chains, with farmers, consumers and local communities as our protagonists.
The World Farmers Markets Coalition, was presented in July 2021 at the Pre-Food System Summit in Rome in the presence of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and in June 2022 the nonprofit association called the World Farmers Markets Coalition was established. On that occasion, it was decided to establish its headquarters in Rome in order to foster an ongoing dialogue with the agencies of the UN agri-food cluster (FAO, IFAD and WFP).
WorldFMC aims to become the international voice of the local food system based on the direct relationship between farmers and consumers. A sustainable production model that cares for farmers, local communities and the environment. It is a community supported by more than 70 associations in more than 50 countries, representing 20,000 farmers’ markets around the world.
Capacity building is one of the Coalition’s main activities: creating a network for the exchange of knowledge and best practices for farmers and farmers market managers is at the core of our association’s activities.
Founded in 1962, the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) is a Mediterranean intergovernmental organization composed of 13 member countries (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey). CIHEAM has a long history of multilateral and regional cooperation and offers education and training, research, technical assistance and capacity building.
It operates through its four institutes based in Bari – CIHEAM Bari – (Italy), Chania – CIHEAM Chania – (Greece), Montpellier – CIHEAM Montpellier – (France), and Zaragoza – CIHEAM Zaragoza – (Spain), and its headquarters – CIHEAM SG, based in Paris.