Adnkronos Rome, March 20 (Adnkronos/Labitalia) – The operational agreement between Ismea (Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market) and Arsial (Regional Agency for the Development and Innovation of Agriculture in Lazio) was signed today at the headquarters of Ismea, in the presence of the Councilor for Budget, Economic Planning, Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Hunting and Fishing, Parks and Forests of the Lazio Region, Giancarlo Righini.
The agreement, which is part of the framework agreement signed between the two entities on 12 July 2022, aims to deepen knowledge of the agri-food supply chains of Lazio, evaluating their level of integration, self-sufficiency and development potential, in order to support regional agri-food policies.
The parties undertake to collaborate to carry out research and studies on the main agri-food sectors of the region, both through desk analyses and field surveys. More specifically, the activities covered by the agreement include a mapping of the most representative production chains to assess their economic weight and degree of integration, the analysis of structural variables and market dynamics in the agricultural phase and in those of transformation, wholesale distribution and retail trade.
The agreement, active until December 31, 2027, also includes qualitative surveys through interviews with companies and focus groups with consumers, as well as targeted insights into the issues of the value chain, work and employment dynamics, exports, logistics and access to credit.
"This agreement makes it possible to base the decision-making process of the political part on technical-scientific support, allowing us to approve the best possible measure and to allocate adequate resources so that they produce the best result", declared Councilor Giancarlo Righini. "Ismea, which we thank for this opportunity, is the only body able to provide such elements and together with Arsial, our regional agency dedicated to research, innovation and development in agriculture, will guarantee all the information necessary for the adoption of the measures", he continued.
"The collaboration with Arsial - stressed the president of Ismea, Livio Proietti - represents an important opportunity for the Institute to strengthen the knowledge of the agri-food sector of Lazio, of its productive fabric, of its specific needs and potential. Our goal is to provide a useful tool to better outline the policies of the sector and support the growth and development strategies of the supply chain". "Today we ratified the collaboration between Arsial and Ismea, an important first step that we will soon further strengthen", declared Massimiliano Raffa, extraordinary commissioner of Arsial. "Lazio faces unique challenges: over two thirds of the regional population is concentrated in the metropolitan area of Rome, making our territory particularly sensitive to the dynamics of global trade. We also need to address the rapid change in eating habits and the growing gap between agricultural producers and large-scale distribution, which represents 80% of the consumer market. As Arsial, we are working to consolidate local agri-food companies and prepare them to successfully face these new market scenarios", he concluded.
“We are pleased to make Ismea's know-how in the collection, processing and analysis of agri-food sector data available to Arsial, to support the competitiveness of the Region's strategic supply chains", declared Sergio Marchi, general manager of Ismea. "This collaboration represents an important opportunity to consolidate the exchange and cooperation relationships between the two administrations and launch further joint initiatives for the benefit of the sector", he concluded.