FaRMER

The agri-food sector is one of the largest economic sectors in the EU, with approximately 12 million farmers employed, and about half of EU land territory is dedicated to farming. The EU agricultural sector is one of the world's world-leading in food production, a key player at the global level in food safety & quality, and a provider of millions of jobs for Europeans. The sector faces numerous challenges such as environmental issues, climate change, loss of biodiversity, lack of resources such as water, the use or not of pesticides, diseases, quality of soil, energy availability, and pricing factors, to name a few. Farms have to produce quality products at affordable prices, traceable throughout the supply chain, and grow as close to the end consumer as possible, while farm revenues and profitability are under continuous pressure. As "businessmen," farmers all across Europe deal with risks and make decisions every day that affect their farming operations. As discussed above, they are routinely exposed to threats, risks, and uncertainties. As a result, they cannot, in several cases, understand, assess, and effectively manage them. Farmers need to identify their business and operation's overall risks, understand and assess them and acquire risk management skills to anticipate possible problems better and reduce consequences when they occur. To do so, their risk management background, culture, and perception need to be improved and enhance their capability to identify and evaluate the necessary information required to make the appropriate decisions to manage their risks. PROJECT GOALS - Enhancing target groups' resilience, productivity, and competitiveness through the evolution of their risk management competence and capabilities in their business operations and management. - Utilizing digital modern tools and technology to identify, assess, evaluate, monitor, and control risks.