ONE HEALTH APPROACHES TO SUPPORT AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF PERI-URBAN FARMING

STUDY LINKS BETWEEN FARMING PRACTICES, ANIMAL, HUMAN & ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

URBANE will explore the links between farming practices and health as it applies a One Health approach for tackling issues related to the application & intensification of peri-urban agriculture and the health of animals, humans and the ecosystem as a whole. URBANE supports that other than sustainability, applied agroecology allows achievement of better health of humans, animals and the ecosystem in general by promoting improvements in their physical and psycho-emotional states.

PROMOTION OF AGROECOLOGICAL FARMING PRACTICES

Through sustainable agroecological practices in the peri-urban environment, URBANE aims to make cities more sustainable and inclusive, while boosting the productivity of small-scale food producers located in the peri-urban environment. The project promotes agroecology by building on local knowledge with the support of new technologies and application of the best practices applied in European regions where agroecology is already applied in intensified, market-oriented production fields.

DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE URBANE DSS

Use of the URBANE novel tools and the engagement of local knowledge will be used as drivers to support decision making and achieve a high impact. URBANE is designed to build on local knowledge, supported by new technologies and best practices applied in European regions where agroecology is already applied in intensified, market-oriented production fields. The URBANE DSS will be delivered in two versions: a) for farmers in the form of a friendly application and b) for authorities providing information on the potential dangers and the environmental and crop yield impact of the application of agroecological farming practices.

TRAINING AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Formulation of policy recommendations resulting from the URBANE approach implementation and the project’s results will allow expanding the reach of the approach and positively influence and support of its broader adoption. Policy recommendations will be made for supporting the adoption of the URBANE approach, towards meeting the SDGs, Green Deal and Africa-EU Partnership goals.

Case Studies

URBANE partners have designed real-world case studies that cover different agroecological zones in Western Africa. Six WA countries make up the URBANE CS countries and the pilot sites were selected following a series of assessments, registering capabilities and potential impact of the URBANE approach in these farms considering not only environmental factors but also socio-economic ones. 

Nigeria
Six pilot sites are selected, two for EACH: vegetable production, poultry and piggery. One of the piggery farms also has some crops being cultivated, offering the possibility of exploring crop-livestock integration.
Morocco
Two PILOT sites are selected  to deploy the case study scenarios. The first FARM is an animal farm breeding chickens and the second is a crop farm where CITRUS TREES ARE GROWN.
Senegal
TWO PILOT SITES ARE SELECTED both of which are mixed farms. For the first one agroecological practices are already in use and will be enhanced with urbane, while the second site is a combination of four smaller farms in near proximity that form a collective. 
Ghana
TWo Pilot sites are selected, both of which are piggeries. Potential bat-pig interaction routes will be investigated for identifications of differences in both likelihood of bat virus spill-over into pigs and pig-to-pig transmission of bat viruses  in intensive vs. extensive farming systems.
Benin
Four pilot sites are selected, two for crop farming and two for poultry breeding. The case study will be focused on local mixed farming systems where intensive farming practices are currently applied with uses of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. 
Burkina Faso
TWO PILOT SITES ARE SELECTED. The case study will focus on local agricultural mixed system specifically the Tilapia fish and the fonio plant. Despite the regulated use of pesticides for agriculture their wide use in the country is still problematic.  

26

PARTNERS

16

COUNTRIES

€ 5 015 233,25

EU CONTRIBUTION

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Meet the Consortium

URBANE is set up by the following partners working together for achieving its goals and meeting the objectives.

Results

Find all our published and publicly available work that form part of our project results.

Applications of Probiotic-Based Multi-Components to Human, Animal and Ecosystem Health: Concepts, Methodologies, and Action Mechanisms

Microorganisms
24 August 2022 


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Synbiotics and their Antioxidant Properties, Mechanisms, and Benefits on Human and Animal Health: A Narrative Review

Biomolecules
09 October 2022 


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Nature-Based One Health Approaches to Urban Agriculture Can Deliver Food and Nutrition Security

Frontiers in Nutrition “Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets “
11 March 2022


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Probiotics as antibiotic alternatives for human and animal applications

Encyclopedia
30 April 2023 


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    This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101059232.