New all-island agrifood project launched by MTU’s Agritech Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast’s Agri-Food Quest Competence Centre
A groundbreaking new project, AgriFood Connect, has been launched to address the challenges facing the agriculture and food sector in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The AgriFood Connect project aims to accelerate innovation in the AgriFood and AgriTech industries by bridging the gap between innovative research and practical, market-ready solutions for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), early-stage companies, food manufacturers, and farmers. It also aims to scale cross border collaboration among SMEs and other players such as universities, third sector organisations and government agencies using cluster and networking supports. This project is supported by InterTradeIreland’s Synergy Programme, Synergy is a cross-border cluster initiative.
Led by Munster Technological University’s AgriTech Ireland Cluster and the Agri-Food Quest Competence Centre (hosted by Queen University Belfast), the project aims to tackle issues within the agriculture and food production sectors. According to MTU’s Agritech Ireland Cluster, gaps remain in translating research findings into viable, scalable solutions for the industry. SMEs involved in agriculture and food production often struggle to adopt new technologies due to a lack of resources, networks, and expertise, resulting in missed opportunities for growth, sustainability and increased productivity. These challenges pose a risk not only to the competitiveness of SMEs but also to the long-term sustainability and economic resilience of the sector.
Agrifood Connect will be rolled out in four phases, each focused on building strong partnerships and translating research into tangible, market-ready solutions. By connecting Irish and Northern Irish SMEs and RPOs into collaborative networks, AgriFood Connect will create a platform for knowledge exchange, enabling stakeholders to work together and address common challenges within the supply chain.
Commenting on the launch, Alison Currie, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at InterTradeIreland said: “InterTradeIreland welcome this opportunity to support the AgriTech Ireland Cluster and AgriFood Quest Competence Centre with the delivery of the AgriFood Connect project. The clusters are working collaboratively on addressing critical challenges faced in the agri-food sector by fostering a strong, cross-border innovation ecosystem that bridges the gap between research and practical application. The creation of this ecosystem will help convert challenges into solutions resulting in competitiveness and sustainable growth for SMEs within the agriculture and food sectors across the island.”
Kieran O’Donoghue, Educational Outreach Manager, AgriTech Ireland Cluster, said: “We are excited to have secured InterTradeIreland support for this unique cross-border project, which will connect AgriTech and FoodTech researchers and industry. This initiative marks a significant step forward in fostering collaborative innovation across the island, bringing together the best minds from research and industry to drive innovation in agriculture and food production. By working together, we are not only connecting and strengthening the ties between key stakeholders across Ireland but also paving the way for advancements that will enhance both sustainability and productivity across the agricultural and food sectors, positioning Ireland as a global leader in AgriFood innovation.”
According to Stephane Durane, Manager, Agri-Food Quest Competence Centre: “This AgriFood Connect project provides an exciting opportunity to build on many existing activities and structures that help drive commercialisation to better connect and build an ecosystem for innovation in AgriTech and FoodTech. Many programmes are gaining traction across Ireland, such as Momentum One Zero (One Health Innovation Centre), AgriTech Ireland Cluster, Food-I and Climate+ co-centres. Connecting and building capacity to foster collaboration across these centres and the wider ecosystem provides great potential for start-ups and SMEs to nurture new products, services and ideas for the benefit of the agri-food sector. We are looking forward to working with the Institute of Global Food Security with Agri-Food Quest and Momentum One Zero at Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with the AgriTech Ireland Cluster and Munster Technological University to drive this initiative thanks to InterTradeIreland.”
Industry stakeholders are encouraged to get involved by filling in Agrifood Connect’s Expression of Interest form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/
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Launching AgriFood Connect in Belfast were (l-r): Bobby Woods (MTU), Sarah Farrell (QUB), Alison Currie (InterTradeIreland), Shannon McLaughlin (QUB), Stephane Durand (Agri-Food Quest Competence Centre), and Kieran O’Donoghue (AgriTech Ireland Cluster).
