Sustainable Smallholders EU Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sustainable Smallholders EU

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; Economic and financial affairs (incl. funding issues); Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Project Summary

Sustainable Smallholders EU (SSEU) is an adult education initiative to empower and equip smallholders (and those who educate/support them) with skills and knowledge to improve the viability of their holdings by championing the local/heritage value of their produce, transforming their supply chain management and enhancing their environmental/climate action contributions in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals.

Smallholders hold the key to Europe’s agricultural & food heritage. Hard-working micro-businesses with a legacy product they believe in, smallholders act like a seed bank, preserving our heritage breeds & rare arable crops despite crippling challenges and disadvantages due to the small size of their operations, weak technical capacity, high vulnerability to risks and lack of capital. As a result, smallholder farming is about a third less productive than large-scale farming (UN Food and Agriculture Organization).

SSEU will empower and equip smallholders with skills and knowledge to:
1) future proof their smallholdings by improving their long term viability to not just protect the heritage value of their produce and livestock but use it as their USP
2) increase their profitability via (a) more efficient and lucrative distribution channels such as collective supply approaches/routes to market and (b) more conscious approaches/responses to consumer demand for sustainable, local and heritage products
3) to improve their ongoing environmental, climate action and biodiversity work by focusing in on their approaches to food security, food waste; and sustainable agriculture
4) increase and diversify the way they contribute to global food demand in a resource-scarce world

Smallholders are characterised by large numbers of very small businesses which presents a major sourcing issue for purchasers and poor bargaining power on the smallholders’ behalf. As evidenced in our Needs Analysis, there is a lack of training suitable to their needs. Traditional classroom courses do not meet the needs of busy, time-poor smallholders who are often lone workers.
SSEU also responds to the needs of Sustainability, Farming and Community Education Bodies who offer training and supports to the farming sector but lack the knowledge/pedagogical strategies to provide niche outreach support, training and guidance to promote the economic viability and sustainability of smallholdings.

SSEU TRANSNATIONAL partnership of UK, Slovakia, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Denmark will enable positive action and far-reaching impact that spreads across the EU. SSEU main results achieved via 3 IO’s and one transnational learning activity will result in attitudinal change, knowledge acquisition and/or skills development at individual adult, organisational, local and regional level.

IO1 Smallholders Sustainable Development Guidebook is a practical guide for adult learners which breaks down and contextualises the SDG’s making them relevant and achievable at a smallholder farming level. It will share learning and experiences in key SDG themes such as: Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Health, Food Waste, Climate and Environment and Innovative Technologies

IO2 Smallholders Supply Chain Toolkit – Given their small scale, smallholders have very little bargaining power when it comes to access to markets and due to their lack of economies of scale, they present a major sourcing issue for retail purchasers. The Toolkit addresses these challenges and offers European smallholders a simple step by step collaboration approach to create a collective supply approach/route to market leading to more efficient and lucrative distribution channels.

IO3 Heritage Value of Smallholder Produce OERs – the objective of the Open Education Resources is to empower and equip smallholders (and those who educate/support them) with skills and knowledge to improve the viability of their
holdings by championing the local/heritage value of their produce and improving their other basic entrepreneurial skills such as business planning, financial literacy, marketing and sales.

Through our training, learning activity, as well as our high impact dissemination approach, the project will produce the following results within its lifespan:
• 500 smallholders (+500 thereafter) will complete the SSEU online self-learning course becoming uniquely positioned in their local communities to promote positive change, galvanise others and create immediate social impact.
• 15 people from smallholdings in Ireland, UK, Slovakia, Italy and Spain will come together in Slovakia in an immersive adult, peer learning activity.
• 25 Education Bodies and 25 Farming/Regional Development Organisation across each of our participating regions (5 of each per region) will incorporate SSEU resources as part of their adult education/farm sector support offering. Primed with pedagogical strategies to teach SSEU principles others and achieve greater sustainable for this vital sector.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 287220 Eur

Project Coordinator

Trade Management Services ltd & Country: UK

Project Partners

• MOMENTUM MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED
• MANCOMUNITAT DE LA RIBERA BAIXA
• European E-learning Institute
• SLOVENSKA POLNOHOSPODARSKA UNIVERZITA V NITRE
• Leitrim Organic Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd
• MERIDAUNIA