Rabat, Morocco, 20 September 2022 – Under the leadership of Dr Rachid Mrabet of INRA Morocco, experts drawn from international scientists, development agencies, and a private brewing company met virtually to launch the MountainHER project.
The PRIMA MountainHER project aims to restore farm productivity, diversify income opportunities and increase social inclusion in six mountain community (pilot projects) in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Croatia and Italy.
The fields of these farming communities will be used as living laboratories in a participatory approach to assess the productivity and sustainability gains of growing barley and durum wheat cultivars (WP2) derived from heritage grains, under agro-ecological management (WP3). These results will be used to promote circular economies also with the production of community-based fertilisers / soil improvers. Income opportunities will be created by integrating women’s associations in the continuum from farm to table, transforming crops into value-added food, and exploring and proposing market opportunities. To this end, cereals will be transformed into traditional food and malt products (WP4) which will be analysed from a nutritional and organoleptic point of view (WP5), evaluated by consumers and in market tests, and made the subject of business plans for marketing.
