Improving analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers with the operators of the value chains
Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal
Funding Amount
Amount not specified
Deadline
24/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution
Trusted by
What is the Improving analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers with the operators of the value chains Call?
Grant Description
The call addresses gaps in understanding and modelling EU agriculture and food value chains. It supports research to develop analytical frameworks, empirical tools and indicators to model costs, price formation and transmission, risks and value distribution along value chains, identify market failures and unfair trading practices, and analyze farmers’ bargaining power. Projects will propose and assess policy and business solutions to enhance farmers’ income, transparency, resilience and sustaina...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
Successful proposals will:
• Enhance the capacity of the research community to analyze and model the EU agricultural and food sectors, market structures, and the formation, transmission, and distribution of costs, prices, risks, and economic values along value chains.
• Improve understanding among policymakers, farmers, and value chain operators of value chain functioning and of how costs, prices, risks, and values are formed, transmitted, and distributed.
• Equip policymakers at EU, national, and local levels with better knowledge of policy impacts on value chains, enabling more effective design and uptake of policy tools to strengthen farmers’ positions.
• Deliver improved policy mixes, fairer business interactions, and practical tools that reinforce farmers’ bargaining power with upstream and downstream operators, thereby supporting more sustainable, transparent, and resilient value chains that generate fair incomes for farmers and facilitate the transition to sustainable, resilient, and competitive farming systems.
• Enhance the capacity of the research community to analyze and model the EU agricultural and food sectors, market structures, and the formation, transmission, and distribution of costs, prices, risks, and economic values along value chains.
• Improve understanding among policymakers, farmers, and value chain operators of value chain functioning and of how costs, prices, risks, and values are formed, transmitted, and distributed.
• Equip policymakers at EU, national, and local levels with better knowledge of policy impacts on value chains, enabling more effective design and uptake of policy tools to strengthen farmers’ positions.
• Deliver improved policy mixes, fairer business interactions, and practical tools that reinforce farmers’ bargaining power with upstream and downstream operators, thereby supporting more sustainable, transparent, and resilient value chains that generate fair incomes for farmers and facilitate the transition to sustainable, resilient, and competitive farming systems.
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
Proposals must:
1. Provide an adaptable, consolidated conceptual framework and supporting tools to capture the diversity of EU value chains with respect to: length; scale; vertical and horizontal coordination; concentration at each stage; product quality differentiation.
2. Underpin the framework with empirical evidence and data at the maximum possible granularity.
3. Empirically model production costs, price formation/transmission, risk, value distribution, and profit margins along selected value chains; identify sources of market failures and unfair trading practices; account for contrasting economic contexts (price levels, volatility patterns).
4. Develop or improve indicators and collect data to measure farmers’ bargaining power with upstream and downstream actors.
5. Analyze interactions between value chain operators and value-chain characteristics that affect farmers’ bargaining and decision-making power, including structural changes (farm size, legal form) and socioeconomic attributes (gender, age).
6. Examine transaction relationships (contracts, provisions, price/volume calculations) and how costs, risks, and value are shared among operators.
7. Explore existing and/or propose new policy/business solutions, tools, coordination approaches, and digital/data innovations to enhance market transparency and farmers’ bargaining power.
8. Identify and document good governance and awareness-raising practices for successful implementation and uptake of solutions.
9. Produce dissemination materials tailored for policymakers and business stakeholders to facilitate R&I uptake.
10. Capitalize on existing research and ensure synergies with relevant EU-funded studies, projects, initiatives, and processes.
11. Ensure effective integration of Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines.
1. Provide an adaptable, consolidated conceptual framework and supporting tools to capture the diversity of EU value chains with respect to: length; scale; vertical and horizontal coordination; concentration at each stage; product quality differentiation.
2. Underpin the framework with empirical evidence and data at the maximum possible granularity.
3. Empirically model production costs, price formation/transmission, risk, value distribution, and profit margins along selected value chains; identify sources of market failures and unfair trading practices; account for contrasting economic contexts (price levels, volatility patterns).
4. Develop or improve indicators and collect data to measure farmers’ bargaining power with upstream and downstream actors.
5. Analyze interactions between value chain operators and value-chain characteristics that affect farmers’ bargaining and decision-making power, including structural changes (farm size, legal form) and socioeconomic attributes (gender, age).
6. Examine transaction relationships (contracts, provisions, price/volume calculations) and how costs, risks, and value are shared among operators.
7. Explore existing and/or propose new policy/business solutions, tools, coordination approaches, and digital/data innovations to enhance market transparency and farmers’ bargaining power.
8. Identify and document good governance and awareness-raising practices for successful implementation and uptake of solutions.
9. Produce dissemination materials tailored for policymakers and business stakeholders to facilitate R&I uptake.
10. Capitalize on existing research and ensure synergies with relevant EU-funded studies, projects, initiatives, and processes.
11. Ensure effective integration of Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines.
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
1. Type of Action: HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under Horizon Europe; Model Grant Agreement: Horizon Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS).
2. Single-stage submission; opening date 06 May 2025; deadline 24 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time.
3. Admissibility: comply with proposal page limits/layout in Annex A and E of the General Annexes; use Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.
4. Eligibility: participants must be from countries listed in Annex B of the General Annexes; non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate under specific provisions.
5. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria per Annex C.
6. Evaluation: criteria, scoring, thresholds per Annex D; processes and timeline per Annex F.
7. Lump sum funding rules as defined by the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorizing lump sum contributions; follow detailed budget table for lump sums.
8. Applicants must align with Destination 7 description and expected impacts in the 2025 Work Programme (“Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”).
9. Effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines is mandatory.
10. Proposals must capitalize on and ensure synergies with existing EU-funded initiatives and projects (e.g., Copernicus, Common European Data Spaces, producer organisation programmes, EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory).
2. Single-stage submission; opening date 06 May 2025; deadline 24 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time.
3. Admissibility: comply with proposal page limits/layout in Annex A and E of the General Annexes; use Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.
4. Eligibility: participants must be from countries listed in Annex B of the General Annexes; non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate under specific provisions.
5. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria per Annex C.
6. Evaluation: criteria, scoring, thresholds per Annex D; processes and timeline per Annex F.
7. Lump sum funding rules as defined by the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorizing lump sum contributions; follow detailed budget table for lump sums.
8. Applicants must align with Destination 7 description and expected impacts in the 2025 Work Programme (“Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment”).
9. Effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines is mandatory.
10. Proposals must capitalize on and ensure synergies with existing EU-funded initiatives and projects (e.g., Copernicus, Common European Data Spaces, producer organisation programmes, EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory).
Important dates
Open from: 06/05/2025
Deadline:24/09/2025
Application period has ended
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