The Project of Scientists from MAKÜ Will Contribute to the Solution of Famine in Africa

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), under the leadership of Dr. Seyit Yüzüak, a faculty member of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, won the largest international stakeholder and highest budget project fund in its history with the project named “INNOECOFOOD” within the scope of the European Horizon (Ufuk) program, which includes the highest budget project calls of the European Union Commission, covering a total of 10 different countries.

This project aims to establish ECOHUB farms in six different African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, and Egypt, where drought, wars, economic problems, and hunger and scarcity, which peaked with the Covid-19 pandemic we experienced in the last 3 years, threaten a significant portion of the population. These farms will use innovative artificial intelligence technologies and climate-friendly renewable local energy sources, featuring optimized production-processing-operation-marketing qualities for sustainable aquaculture, Spirulina (a green-blue colored algae), and insect production. This project will also ensure the employment and training of the local population with low socio-economic status in these ECOHUB farms, enabling the local population to sustainably continue the production chain and cycle in the established ECOHUB farms, and will lead in the production and processing of certified, marketable food and industrial products from these innovative farms, thus providing a potential for sustainable social impact.

The results and impacts to be obtained from this project, which was accepted in 2023 and will start in January 2024 and last for a total of 3 years, will also be an important reference source for future projects on sustainable good agricultural practices and food production, the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and natural energy sources, and the protection of the natural environment. In this context, MAKÜ, which leads the mission and specialization program for regional development within the scope of the Agriculture and Livestock Project in our country, will add a new one to its contributions to both the country and the world economy by sharing its knowledge and experience with an international consortium through this project.

MAKÜ’s First European Horizon Project and Highest Budget International Project

Project leader Dr. Seyit Yüzüak from MAKÜ, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, shared detailed information about the project. Emphasizing that the project is the university's first European Union Horizon project, Yüzüak said the following about the project; “Our project titled ‘Development of agro-ecological food products using eco-innovative technologies in Africa, sustainable production and marketing of these food products’ was prepared considering the European Union’s ‘Farm2Fork’ strategy developed for a fair, healthy, environmentally friendly, and sustainable food system. Our project, which we briefly call ‘INNOECOFOOD’, includes a total of 10 different countries, including Turkey, Portugal, Germany, and the United Kingdom from Europe, and Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, and Tanzania from Africa, consisting of 20 different international stakeholders, including universities, institutes, and private companies, and has a total budget of 7 million Euros (€). Our project, for which I am the leader and work package leader from our university, is the first European Horizon project of our university and city, and with the 250,000 Euro project grant it brought to our university, it is the largest budget European Union project our university has had internationally to date. We will carry out the establishment and production of the Spirulina farms we are responsible for in the project with a research team consisting of our university faculty members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rıza Akgül and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Füsun Akgül, who have long-standing studies in the field of Spirulina, and our graduate students, under the consultancy of Prof. Dr. Deyu Xie from North Carolina State University in the United States. Our project started with the kick-off meeting held in Portugal and we continue our work. Additionally, with the support of our Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Oğuz Gürsoy and Prof. Dr. Hakan Öner, after a six-month accreditation process that I personally worked on and followed, we have officially brought our university to the European Horizon Project League, thus strengthening the international corporate identity and recognition of our university. MAKÜ has thus taken its place as an accredited important actor in the European Commission Horizon Project League. I would also like to mention that we are proud and happy that Denizli Governorship, which is another partner from Turkey in our project, and my friend Redife Aslıhan Uçar, the project leader from Denizli Governorship, represent our country in the European Horizon League and have brought a total of 500,000 Euro grant to our country.”