Food JPI needs more cash, vice-chair says

Aligning existing European agricultural, food security and climate research will not be sufficient to tackle global issues, Niels Gøtke the vice-chairman of the European Commission’s Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change Joint Programming Initiative (Facce JPI) has said.

Gøtke told Research Europe that if the EU really intended to treat this as a priority research challenge, there would have to be a boost in funding. Accessing such funding is one of three approaches to improving research and coordination set out in Facce JPI’s recent 2014-15 implementation plan, which says how it plans to put the 2012 strategic research agenda into action.

A lack of resources in the member countries means it is imperative to access EU funding through Horizon 2020 programmes and other initiatives, Gøtke says. Although the European Commission has not had any say in the implementation plan, he says he believes that they are taking the JPI seriously.