On 7 October 2025, the Task Leaders of Work Package 3 (WP3) of the ACT4CAP27 project held a focused meeting to review progress across the four tasks, discuss contributions to the upcoming periodic report, and plan ahead for the project’s annual meeting in Madrid in March 2026.
The agenda included progress reports by task, Q&A for the periodic report, and preparation for the annual meeting. Task Leaders took the opportunity to discuss challenges, share insights, and coordinate support across the partnership.
Task 3.1: Harmonized Global Input Use Module – Led by SLU, WR, Thünen, EuroCARE, and IIASA, this task focuses on building a global database of agricultural inputs—fertilisers, pesticides, and antibiotics—and their responses to policy and market changes. During the meeting, partners reported significant progress in disaggregating fertiliser sources within CAPRI and developing modules to distinguish conventional and organic agriculture. Work on antimicrobials and pesticides is planned for upcoming periods.
Task 3.2: Consumer Preference Shifts Module – Thünen and WR are extending the Bayesian-based modelling of consumption patterns, previously applied to German intake surveys, to additional countries using EFSA’s Comprehensive Food Consumption Database. Preparatory work has refined the model’s ability to simulate dietary change scenarios and will feed into WP2’s health module and the ACT4CAP27 Portal in WP4.
Task 3.3: Food Value Chain Module – UPM, WR, PNU, and UNIROMA3 have advanced the development of a complex network model for global food value chains. UPM is mapping the global fertiliser supply chain, while PNU focuses on the soybean value chain for feed use. The discussions highlighted methodological challenges, including limited post-2021 data exacerbated by geopolitical disruptions, emphasizing the need for robust historical databases for model validation.
Task 3.4: CAP and Green Deal Policies Module – Led by Thünen with contributions from WR, SLU, EuroCARE, and PNU, this task monitors current and post-2027 CAP policies and EU sustainability targets, aiming to create a disaggregated database for CAP policies for the use in all models of the project. Key progress includes preparations in AGMEMOD to simulate a potential future accession of Ukraine to the EU and initial scoping of sustainability indicator databases.
Next Steps
Task Leaders agreed on follow-up actions to address data gaps, ensure alignment with WP6 scenario analyses, and refine contributions to the upcoming periodic report. Preparations for the annual meeting in Madrid will focus on defining deliverables and assessing whether an additional checkpoint meeting is needed in January 2026. A live demonstration of the ACT4CAP27 Accelerator is planned, pending final technical setup.
