Improving analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers with the operators of the value chains

The grant opportunity centers around the Horizon Europe program, specifically focused on improving the analytical capacity and understanding of farmers' bargaining power and interactions within agricultural value chains. It promotes fairer market structures and aims to enhance farmers' positions in the agricultural sector. The primary applicant types include universities, research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises, and agricultural cooperatives. The funding type is designated as a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, which suggests a monetary support mechanism.

The call requires consortium partnerships, emphasizing collaboration among various stakeholders in the agricultural and food sectors. Geographic eligibility is limited to EU member states and associated countries, with projects expected to deliver results focusing on agricultural economics and the bioeconomy. The grant encourages applicants to address research and innovation actions, facilitating the development of analytical tools to improve the understanding of how value chains operate.

Although the exact funding amount per project is not specified, similar projects range from €4 million to €24 million, suggesting potential funding could be around €6 million for individual projects. The application process is framed as a single-stage open call with a deadline of September 24, 2025.

Successful proposals are expected to deliver outcomes including better analytical frameworks, improved understanding among stakeholders of value chain operations, and more effective policymaking. Furthermore, proposals should bridge knowledge gaps concerning farm production costs, price transmission, and overall farmer bargaining power.

Key tasks include developing analytical tools, modeling the economic dynamics along value chains, enhancing data collection methods for farmers' bargaining indicators, and proposing policy solutions. Applicants are also encouraged to engage in interdisciplinary research incorporating social sciences and humanities to enrich the understanding of agricultural value systems.

In summary, the grant seeks to improve farmers' negotiating positions in value chains through comprehensive research and collaboration, ultimately promoting fairer incomes and strengthened market dynamics in the agricultural sector.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Call, specifically Cluster 6 Call 03, designed as a single-stage application process. The call aims to improve the analytical capacity and understanding of the bargaining power and interactions of farmers within agricultural value chains. The call includes both HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (IA), as well as HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), all utilizing the HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement.

The call opened for submissions on May 6, 2025, with a deadline of September 24, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The primary objective is to reinforce the position of farmers in the value chain, aligning with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and related EU directives and regulations. Successful proposals are expected to enhance knowledge and analytical tools that support effective governance and policy mixes, ultimately leading to fairer incomes for farmers and fostering sustainable, resilient, and competitive farming systems.

Expected outcomes of funded projects include:

Enhanced capacity within the research community to analyze and model EU agricultural and food sectors, including their market structures, and the formation, transmission, and distribution of costs, prices, risks, and economic values along value chains.
Improved understanding among policymakers, farmers, and other value chain operators regarding the functioning of value chains and the factors influencing cost, price, risk, and economic value distribution.
Better-informed policymakers at EU, national, and local levels who can design and support effective policy tools that strengthen farmers' positions in value chains.
Improved policy mixes, fairer business interactions, and tools that reinforce farmers' bargaining power with upstream and downstream operators, leading to more sustainable, transparent, and resilient value chains that benefit both farmers and consumers.

The scope of the call emphasizes addressing the incomplete and oversimplified understanding of agriculture and food sectors, value chains, and market structures. Proposals should aim to bridge the knowledge gap concerning farm production costs and price transmission, from input prices to consumer food prices. The focus is on understanding how market and value chain conditions affect farmers' bargaining power, decision-making, and income, which in turn influence their choices related to production, business models, investments, and the adoption of sustainable practices.

Specific activities that proposals should address include:

Developing an analytical framework and tools to capture the complexity and heterogeneity of EU value chain structures, considering factors such as:
Length of the value chain (number of intermediaries).
Scale (global, EU, national, or local).
Degree and forms of vertical coordination.
Degree and forms of horizontal coordination between farmers.
Degree of concentration of operations at all stages.
Degree of product (quality) differentiation.
The framework should be adaptable to represent diverse cases within and between sectors and be supported by empirical evidence and data.
Applying the developed framework and tools to empirically model production costs, price formation, price transmission, risk, cost, and economic value distributions, and profit margins along selected value chains. This includes characterizing sources of market failures and unfair trading practices, considering different economic contexts such as high/low prices and varying price volatility patterns.
Developing and improving indicators and collecting data to better assess farmers' bargaining power with upstream and downstream operators in analytical tools and models.
Exploring, characterizing, and analyzing interactions between value chain operators and value chain characteristics that affect farmers' bargaining and decision-making power. This includes analyzing transaction relationships between farmers and input suppliers, service providers, and buyers, examining contracts, provisions, clauses, standards, and price/volume calculations, and how economic value, costs, and risks are shared.
Analyzing whether farmers' bargaining and decision-making power is affected by socioeconomic characteristics such as gender and age.
Exploring existing and proposing new policy and business solutions and tools to reinforce farmers' bargaining power in value chains, identifying good practices for successful implementation and uptake. Potential solutions include:
Coordination approaches between farmers and/or between farmers and other value chain operators, considering form, size, contractual agreements, and capacity building.
Tools, such as data tools and innovative technologies, to increase market transparency and improve the accessibility and use of information, contributing to better-informed farmers and consumers regarding cost, price, economic value, and risk distribution along value chains.

Proposals are required to develop dissemination materials, such as policy briefs and research findings briefs, to facilitate the uptake of R&I outputs by decision-makers in policy or business contexts. They should also capitalize on existing research findings and tools and ensure synergies with other relevant EU-funded studies, projects, initiatives, and processes. The call emphasizes the importance of involving Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines.

The general conditions for participation are detailed in Annexes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Eligible costs will be reimbursed as a lump sum contribution.

Application forms, evaluation templates, model grant agreements, and guidance documents are available on the Funding and Tenders Portal. Applicants are encouraged to utilize the partner search function to build consortia.

The call includes multiple topics with varying budgets and indicative grant numbers:

HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-01: Budget 6,000,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-02: Budget 12,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-03: Budget 12,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-04: Budget 8,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-05: Budget 9,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-06: Budget 4,400,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-07: Budget 4,000,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-08: Budget 10,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-09: Budget 15,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-10: Budget 16,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-11: Budget 12,000,000 EUR, Indicative 2 grants
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-12: Budget 3,000,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-13: Budget 10,000,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant
HORIZON-CL6-2025-03-GOVERNANCE-14: Budget 8,000,000 EUR, Indicative 1 grant

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to bolster the position of farmers within the EU agricultural value chain by funding research and innovation projects that provide a deeper understanding of value chain dynamics, improve analytical tools, and propose effective policy and business solutions. The call encourages interdisciplinary approaches, dissemination of findings, and collaboration among various stakeholders to create a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient agricultural sector.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of Horizon Europe calls, eligible applicants can include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, non-profit organizations, and other legal entities capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The call encourages the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines, suggesting that SSH research institutions and researchers are particularly relevant applicant types.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, which falls under the broader category of procurement. The call includes both HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA), as well as HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA), each with different funding focuses.

Consortium Requirement: The call does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the scope and complexity of the research and innovation activities, it is highly likely that a consortium of multiple applicants is preferred, if not required, to bring together the necessary expertise and resources. Partner Search Announcements are available to help applicants find partner organizations for their proposal, suggesting that consortia are common.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility is for entities located in the EU and associated countries, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. However, the call also mentions that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries have made specific provisions for funding their participants in Horizon Europe projects, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is agriculture and food, specifically focusing on the agriculture and food value chains. The call also targets the bioeconomy, natural resources, and environment sectors, as it falls under Cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe Programme, which is dedicated to "Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment." The call also involves Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity details mention the EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stage varies depending on the type of action. HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) typically target activities ranging from research to technology development and validation. HORIZON-IA (Innovation Actions) focus on demonstration, piloting, and market uptake activities. HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Actions) support networking, coordination, and dissemination activities. Therefore, the expected maturity of the project can range from research to demonstration and market uptake.

Funding Amount: The funding amount varies depending on the specific topic within the call. The budget overview provides the following ranges:
HORIZON-RIA: €6 million, €8 million, €9 million, €10 million, €12 million, €16 million
HORIZON-IA: €12 million, €15 million
HORIZON-CSA: €3 million, €4 million, €4.4 million, €10 million
The indicative number of grants for each topic is generally 1 or 2.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned.

This Horizon Europe call, part of Cluster 6, aims to reinforce the position of farmers within the agriculture and food value chains. The call seeks proposals that will enhance knowledge and analytical tools to improve the functioning of EU agriculture and food value chains, ensuring fair income for farmers and promoting sustainable farming systems. The call encompasses various actions, including Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Actions (IA), and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), each with specific objectives and funding levels. Eligible applicants include universities, research institutions, SMEs, and other entities capable of contributing to the call's objectives. The geographic scope is primarily the EU and associated countries, with possibilities for non-EU countries to participate under certain conditions. Projects should focus on developing analytical frameworks, modeling production costs and price transmission, improving indicators for assessing farmers' bargaining power, and exploring policy and business solutions to strengthen farmers' positions in value chains. The application process involves a single-stage submission, and funding is provided as a lump sum. The call emphasizes the importance of dissemination and synergy with existing EU initiatives.