Strengthening the resilience of European farmers through improved capacity in coping with risks and crises – Förderung EU-weit

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: • the capacity of farmers and other agri-food supply chain operators to prevent, prepare for, cope with and manage diverse risks and crises, considering potential compound and amplifier effects under climate change, and their impacts, is improved in an integrated way; • policymakers benefit from evidence and better understanding on how to enable more effective strategies for prevention and management of diverse risks and crises affecting farmers, considering compound and amplifier effects of climate change and biodiversity loss; • knowledge and solutions to improve the resilience of farming systems are available and accessible to farmers and other agri-food supply chain operators through active and effective dissemination and engagement activities. Scope: Farmers are exposed to numerous and increasing risks and crises of diverse nature and scale, putting pressure on their wellbeing, business viability and income. So far, available risk and crisis management tools have been insufficient in addressing the growing needs for strengthening resilience capacities. There is a need for more knowledge and solutions adapted to the diversity of farming systems and contexts. This would enable more integrated management of risks and crises, leading to more effective emergency response and adequate prevention and management on the long term. Proposals should target one or more risks and crises (e.g., sanitary, environmental, economic, geopolitical, ecological, demographic, technological) that are causing, or likely to cause, significant socio-economic impacts directly or indirectly affecting EU farmers, considering among others potential compound and amplifier effects under climate change and biodiversity loss. The actions funded under this topic should support the EU policies related to the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Common Agricultural Policy. Proposals should: • improve understanding of farmers’ individual and collective options, strategies, incentives, behaviour and decision-making regarding uncertainties, risk and crisis management. This work should capture the context in which farmers operate, including interactions with other agri-food supply chain operators, critical dependencies, as well as market conditions and policies; • assess the anticipation, robustness and adaptation capacities of farms, costs and benefits of action vs. non-action, and the interactions between risk management, crisis management and the adoption of preventive practices on farms, at landscape level and/or along agri-food supply chains. This work should also analyse the transformative capacities of farms in response to challenges that make business as usual not viable or not possible; • propose inclusive solutions, improve and develop integrated risk and crisis management strategies, at farm and landscape level and/or along the agri-food supply chain, to improve the resilience of farming systems. Proposed solutions should consider different types of production and the risk perceptions of practitioners, and they should be adapted to the practitioners’ risk preferences and resilience requirements. This work should also include an assessment of the costs and benefits of the solutions; • propose criteria and measures to improve fair risk sharing along the agri-food supply chain and for derisking, to mitigate economic risks for farmers; • test the proposed strategies and/or measures, using an experimental approach. Proposals are encouraged to build for this purpose on existing participatory infrastructures (e.g., demonstration sites, living labs, etc); • support inclusive and accessible capacity building, training, and education on risk and crisis management for farmers and other relevant agri-food supply chain operators (“risk literacy”); • consider compound and amplifier effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on other types of risks and crises in all activities whenever appropriate and relevant. Proposals should assess and compare options and strategies developed by farmers implementing various farming approaches, one of which should be organic farming. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding. The JRC’s participation could involve contributing to the understanding of farmer risk preferences, measurement and design of risk sharing alternatives for the agri-food supply chain and testing alternatives using experimental methods. Proposals should capitalise on existing relevant research findings and tools. They should also ensure complementarities with other relevant EU-funded projects, including from the EU Missions on Adaptation to Climate Change and on Soil. Proposals should also ensure synergies with other relevant EU-funded studies (e.g., fi-compass studies), initiatives and processes. Proposals should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources and a plan on how they will collaborate with other projects selected under this topic (e.g., by participating in joint activities, workshops, as well as common communication and dissemination activities). The selected projects are also expected to collaborate with relevant projects selected under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-CLIMATE-03: Strengthening evidence-based policies for the resilience of European agriculture and forestry and related supply chains against crises and systemic risks. Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach, with a consortium based on a balanced mix of actors with complementary knowledge, including farmers, researchers, government representatives, agri-food supply chain operators (e.g., processors), and civil society organisations. This topic should involve the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines. International cooperation is encouraged. ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions The following additional eligibility criteria apply: the proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in this work programme part. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B. described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the specific topic of the Work Programme Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)  Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA  HE Unit MGA  Lump Sum MGA  Operating Grants MGA  Call-specific instructions  Detailed budget table (HE LS)  Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?" Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 9. Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes EIC Work Programme 2026 ERC Work Programme 2026 HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual  Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions  Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement