{"id":7241,"date":"2025-10-31T10:56:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/?p=7241"},"modified":"2025-10-31T11:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T11:36:12","slug":"fci4africa-at-synergy-days-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/fci4africa-at-synergy-days-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"FCI4Africa at Synergy Days 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two incredible days (21-22 October 2025) of connection, collaboration, and innovation! Once again, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.synergyportal.eu\/synergy-days\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Synergy Days<\/a>, organised by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartagrihubs.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">SmartAgriHubs<\/a>, brought together Europe\u2019s most dynamic agri-food and digital communities, with FCI4Africa joining forces with partners and innovators at this year\u2019s inspiring edition in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Representing FCI4Africa at the heart of Europe\u2019s digital agri-food ecosystem<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>As two of the event organisers, <a href=\"https:\/\/reframe.food\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">reframe.food<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wur.nl\/en.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Wageningen University &amp; Research<\/a>, both partners of FCI4Africa, played a pivotal role in shaping this year\u2019s programme and fostering meaningful exchanges across Europe\u2019s agri-food innovation community.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7243 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-1024x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-1024x765.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-768x573.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-1536x1147.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-370x276.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302-1410x1053.jpg 1410w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_155934-e1761907429302.jpg 1910w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At the FCI4Africa booth, visitors had the opportunity to connect with project representatives from across the Consortium:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Thanos Arampatzis<\/strong> and <strong>Lia Kesopoulou<\/strong> (reframe.food)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prof. Dr. Gertrud Buchenrieder<\/strong> and <strong>Dr. Emmanuel Benjamin<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unibw.de\/home-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">University of Bundeswehr Munich<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Peter Schelstraete<\/strong> and <strong>Fabiola Rezende<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntoo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Ubuntoo<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sabine Desczka<\/strong> and <strong>Dr. Gijs Kleter<\/strong> (Wageningen University &amp; Research)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7244 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-915x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"915\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-915x1024.jpg 915w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-268x300.jpg 268w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-768x860.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-1372x1536.jpg 1372w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-1829x2048.jpg 1829w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-11x12.jpg 11w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-370x414.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455-1410x1579.jpg 1410w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251021_083253-scaled-e1761907494455.jpg 1863w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 915px) 100vw, 915px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Throughout the two days, our booth became a vibrant meeting point; a space where ideas on food convergence innovation, digital solutions, and cross-continental collaboration came together to explore new ways to strengthen both African and European food systems.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Pitching FCI4Africa\u2019s vision for fair and resilient food systems<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>In a dynamic pitch presentation, Emmanuel Benjamin highlighted how FCI4Africa is building fair, resilient, and climate-smart food systems through food convergence innovation. His presentation emphasised the project\u2019s collaborative spirit that bridges technology, research, and real-world applications to empower actors across the food value chain.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7245 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-1024x739.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"739\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-1024x739.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-1536x1108.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-2048x1478.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-370x267.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_103841-scaled-e1761907524819-1410x1017.jpg 1410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Co-creating climate-neutral food systems with AfroGrow<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the major highlights of Synergy Days was the joint workshop organised by FCI4Africa and <a href=\"https:\/\/afrogrow-project.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">AfroGrow<\/a>, titled \u201c<em><strong>Co-creating Climate-Neutral Food Systems with Living Labs and Food Convergence Innovation<\/strong><\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The session brought together innovators, researchers, and stakeholders to explore how collaboration and digitalisation can accelerate the transition toward climate-neutral food systems.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7247 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-370x278.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_122912-1410x1058.jpg 1410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Key takeaways included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The strong need for integrated and interoperable platforms, connecting and serving actors from farm to policy.<\/li>\n<li>Recognition of the Open Innovation &amp; Demonstration Platform and AfroGrow Platform as vital entry points for co-creation, testing, and community-led innovation.<\/li>\n<li>Synergies between Traceability Solutions, the Product\u2013Trait Inventory, and the AfroGrow App, supporting transparency and market access for smallholders.<\/li>\n<li>The importance of the E-learning Platform and Digital Knowledge Hub in ensuring digital tool adoption by researchers, SMEs, and youth.<\/li>\n<li>The foundational role of tools like the Decision-Support System, Evidence-Based Analytics Tool, and Trade Models in helping actors plan, forecast, and comply with evolving trade and safety standards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7248 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-9x12.jpg 9w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-370x493.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-1410x1880.jpg 1410w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_121523-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Engaging with thought leaders and partners<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>We were honoured to welcome several distinguished guests and collaborators to our booth, including:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joost-de-laat-a7b8922\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Joost de Laat<\/strong><\/a>, Managing Director, Social Sciences Group, Wageningen University &amp; Research<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/roaldlapperre\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Roald Lapperre<\/strong><\/a>, Secretary General, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sjoukje-heimovaara-46b90b6\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Sjoukje Heimovaara<\/strong><\/a>, President of the Executive Board, Wageningen University &amp; Research<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jesper-stendal-s%C3%B8rensen-0b181875\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Jesper Stendal S\u00f8rensen<\/strong><\/a>, AgData Partnership<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/henryvanburgsteden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Henry van Burgsteden<\/strong><\/a>, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sjaakwolfert\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Sjaak Wolfert<\/strong><\/a>, Coordinator, SmartAgriHubs<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7249 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-1024x795.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-1024x795.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-300x233.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-768x597.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-1536x1193.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-2048x1591.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-15x12.jpg 15w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-370x287.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_105959-scaled-e1761907614225-1410x1095.jpg 1410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Their insights and perspectives further reinforced the importance of connecting digital innovation with on-the-ground needs in Africa and beyond.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Strengthening collaboration with AfroGrow<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A key milestone of the event was the signing of a <strong>Letter of Intent<\/strong> between FCI4Africa and AfroGrow, marking a decisive step toward cooperation in advancing climate-neutral and innovation-driven food systems in Africa. This partnership embodies the shared commitment of both initiatives to co-create scalable, sustainable, and inclusive solutions for the continent\u2019s agri-food future.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7250 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-370x278.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_125034-1410x1058.jpg 1410w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Looking ahead<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Synergy Days 2025 was a reminder of how powerful collaboration can be when driven by shared purpose and innovation. For FCI4Africa, the event was more than a networking opportunity. It was a catalyst for new partnerships, stronger ecosystems, and actionable ideas that will shape the project\u2019s journey forward.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7252 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-9x12.jpg 9w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-370x493.jpg 370w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1-1410x1880.jpg 1410w, https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_20251022_104622-1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned! More photos and videos from our Synergy Days experience are coming soon.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FCI4Africa joined Synergy Days 2025 in Rotterdam to connect with Europe\u2019s agri-food digital ecosystem. From our dynamic pitch and hands-on workshop to signing a Letter of Intent with AfroGrow, the project highlighted innovation, collaboration, and pathways toward fair, resilient, and climate-smart food systems in Africa.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":40,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[81,97],"class_list":["post-7241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fci4africa","tag-synergy-days-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fci4africa.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}