Priority Sector Report: Agrofood

Submitted by Alina Danieles… on 18 May 2018

In order to support evidence-based policy-making and partnering, the European Cluster Observatory (2014-2016) provides an EU-wide comparative cluster mapping with sectoral and cross-sectoral statistical analysis of the geographical concentration of economic activities and performance. 

Considering Agrofood is an important economic driver for European many regions, emerging as one of the most prominent domains wit EU regions smart specialization strategies and is also one of the key thematic orientations of applications and selected cluster projects for new industrial value chains (INNOSUP-1) under Horizon2020. 

Agrofood was not one of the ten emerging industries identified as part of the European Cluster Panorama and thus required a new definition. Using the Food Processing and Manufacturing as the core cluster category, the report adds the relevant industries from Livestock Processing, Fishing, and food-related Agricultural Inputs and Services. Many farming- and processing-related industries, such as bread making, also play a crucial role for the Agrofood complex, even if they were classified as local in the main classification thus the report expands the list of industries to include many of such basic agricultural inputs to be part of the Agrofood definition. 

Going through the main chapters

  • Overview - with basic facts and figures in Agrofood
  • Composition - with Agrofood occupational profile of employment and industry composition
  • Current Patterns and Leading Regions - presenting Europe’s top locations and their strategic profiles, leading regions in Agrofood 
  • Evolution - offering employment and annual growth key figures
  • Sub-Cluster Profile: Livestock Processing - picturing regions most specialised in Livestock Processing 
  • Selected Cluster Initiatives in Agrofood - listing sector-related cluster initiatives, where the cluster organisation is holding a quality label of the European Cluster Excellence Initiative, among which Flanders' FOOD is showcased as a strategy-driven cluster for the facilitation of innovation, contributing to a more competitive, innovative and sustainable agri-food industry

the report also provides an Industry Definition list as appendix.

Please find the full report for reading here (also attached).

Attachment Size
PSR Agrofood SP 20170707.pdf 1.31 MB