This project will support various EU policy initiatives including the 2010 EU policy framework on family farming, food and health. The program establishes food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture firmly among the EU's key priorities for development cooperation in the years ahead. It prioritises support to those countries that have the biggest difficulties in meeting Sustainable Development Goal 1. The policy supports developing countries in addressing food security challenges in a comprehensive manner. It sets out policy lines and proposes priority actions across the four internationally recognised pillars of food security, agreed at the 1996 World Food Summit: increasing availability of food; improving access to food; improving nutritional adequacy of food intake; enhancing crisis prevention and management. The EU pursues action at both the national and the regional level. The establishment of this research group is timely because there are many health issues that are causing concern in Europe, and worldwide. The great relevance of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Pacific increases the risk of non-communicable diseases and socio-economic impacts. The region has the highest diabetes prevalence in the world. So, research programs are needed to determine the societal and environmental factors that influence food intake and physical activity. All in all the project aims to build a more sustainable family farming including healthy eating and have an active life. Hence this project aligns with the intentions of Europe 2020. Exposure for European researchers to non-European research environments will give new insights into how non- European countries such as Australia can align their agriculture and health systems to their own national policy priorities. The project is unique in its research focus and partnership in a time when sustainable agriculture, food and health issues need to be better understood in the Pacific region. The establishment of a coherent research program will ensure that the European based research group will achieve world-wide academic recognition. This project supports the aims of the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation by supporting the overall aim of Horizon 2020:“by coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. More specifically this research project will stress the area of health by examining the “many challenges that need to be met to grant everybody’s legitimate wish for a long, happy and healthy life”. Hence, the knowledge produced from this project may have significant impact related to the aim of building a healthy European, and worldwide, society. By improving EU scholarship in this field, by providing researchers with new skills and a wider range of competences, and by offering attractive working conditions, it will strengthen the human potential in research in Europe. The program also supports the most recent EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation statement. With the collective expertise of researchers from seven countries who are at the forefront of promoting a sustainable family farming, examining agriculture, food and health perspectives, we are well positioned to provide better insights on a global scale, and eventually make a contribution towards a healthy lifestyle for all citizens in EU and worldwide. By broadening the skills of individual researchers and institutions, we will improve EU scholarship in a field in which the EU can lead globally. It will improve the research environment in this field in both France and Germany and this knowledge can be disseminated throughout the EU and beyond.
