MAHDIA

Linking water resilience, agroecology, and sustainable food systems in local communities

Regional project: Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia

Partners:

• CIHEAM Montpellier
• CIRAD
• National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia (INAT)
• National School of Agriculture of Meknes (ENAM)
• Medjez El Bab Higher School of Engineering (ESIM)
• Hassan II Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (IAV)
• Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA)
• INRAE
• Montpellier Agricultural Institute

Funding: Equipe France Fund (FEF), €1 million.

The MAHDIA project is a research initiative aimed at supporting local efforts to transition toward more sustainable food systems by addressing issues related to water resilience, agroecology, healthy eating, and food sovereignty.

Now in its final phase, the project is nearing the end of the contract with the Fonds Équipe France (formerly FSPI), which supports it, scheduled for November 2026. A final seminar is scheduled to take place in Kairouan, Tunisia, from September 21 to 25, 2026. It is primarily led by CIRAD, with support from INRAE. Its website is very active and regularly updated.

The approach taken is participatory, based on engaging food system stakeholders through multi-stakeholder workshops. It relies on the collective identification and promotion of“products of local significance” (PIT): products that matter to the residents of a region, possessing symbolic value, and found in fields, on market stalls, in kitchens, and on plates. This conceptual advancement helps better link agricultural production, food, and regional development.

The project helped establish new research partnerships between ISRA in Senegal, ENA in Meknes, Morocco, and INAT in Tunisia, a process further strengthened byTSARA. It also fostered closer ties between two research units in Montpellier, GEAU and MOISA, which had not previously collaborated on these topics.

An external evaluation of the project is currently underway, with results expected in November. Building on this work, the partners are now planning a second phase,MAHDIA2, to be carried out as part of a European project currently in the works, likely under the cross-cutting strategic priority “Farm to Fork.” The upcoming seminar in Tunisia will therefore serve both as an opportunity to take stock and as a forum for collaborative planning for this new phase.

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