The BLIVE Project: Boosting innovation for livestock farming in Europe

From April to September 2022, RootCamp in partnership with the German AgriFood Society is implementing the BLIVE project to boost innovation and start building a pan-European network in the livestock sector. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, through the SERVICE Open Call issued and executed by the SmartAgriHubs (Grant Agreement No 818182). This is the first public grant that RootCamp receives.

This project represents the initial step for RootCamp to position itself as a cornerstone and touchpoint for the start-up activities in the livestock field within the coming years.

The challenges of the livestock sector

Digital Livestock Farming (Source: ATLAS)

Global challenges such as the growing world population (predicted to reach 9.1 billion by 2050), the increasing demand for food, and climate change are impacting the environment and putting pressure on agriculture, specially on the livestock sector. To address these challenges, livestock agriculture must adapt to produce with an improved efficiency while also addressing concerns about animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and public health.

Despite the available technologies used in the livestock sector such as automated feeding systems, milking robots, and manure management, as well as the improvements made on animal breeding, genetics, and nutrition, challenges on animal health and welfare remain at the farms.

The project approach

To support the different stakeholder in the livestock sector, and especially those start-ups working on innovative solutions to tackle the above-mentioned challenges, RootCamp and its project partners aim with this project at: 

• Collecting best practices, experiences and lessons learned from successful pilot projects implemented by start-ups in the livestock sector.

• Connecting different players from the livestock sector (i.e., start-ups, corporates, researchers, farmers) for information and knowledge sharing on best practices and experiences through on-site and virtual networking events.

• Support livestock-related start-ups, offering innovation solutions to the livestock sector in Europe, through the RootCamp´s Acceleration Program Batch # 3.

To reach the project objectives, a series of events are being planned (see timeline below):

The kick-off event of the project was held on 09 June 2022 at RootCamp, where selected participants were invited to brainstorm in small groups on the challenges of the livestock industry and to understand together what the most pressing issues are. A panel discussion among VetVise GmbH, Big Dutchman International GmbH, SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH and the Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen wrapped-up the group´s thoughts and set the scene for the upcoming events. The event also gave the opportunity to all participants to network. 

Panel discussion (from left to right): Philipp Rittershaus (moderator), Johannes Schmidt-Mosig (VetVise), Alexander Stärk (Big Dutchman), Bastian Hildebrand (SKW), and Marc - Alexander Lieboldt (Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen)

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