Objectives

The RAFINNOBIO project, funded by INRAE’s international TSARA initiative, aims to establish the groundwork for a network of technology platforms based on complementary expertise, in order to strengthen local capacities and stimulate innovation in the valorization of bioresources in West Africa and the Mediterranean Basin.

Three areas of action
Understand the links between the biodiversity of local resources, product properties, and process performance, in order to design innovations adapted to climatic and economic contexts.
Develop resource-efficient, modular, and transferable processes for food, energy, and bio-based materials.
Build shared expertise in technological frugality and the ecological transition, in response to the effects of climate change.

Programme

This approach is based on a gradual ramp-up, structured around network organization (WP1), innovation (WP2), and the development of technological expertise and communication (WP3).

Building and organizing the network (WP1)
Create a structured and operational network of technology platforms dedicated to the sustainable and resource-efficient transformation of agro-resources, in order to strengthen scientific, technical, and industrial collaboration between West Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, France, and Europe.

Deploying innovation and sharing knowledge (WP2)
Test the network’s structure through projects focused on innovation and the sharing of scientific methods among the entities of the pilot cluster: UGB, IATE, BIOWooEB, and QualiSud.
The results obtained will feed into the WP1 workshops, providing concrete case studies to support discussions and serve as structuring examples.

Developing and sharing expertise on bioresources (WP3)
Strengthen the technical, scientific, and organizational capacities of technology-platform stakeholders in France and West Africa, in order to promote the transfer, uptake, and scale-up of innovative plant-processing processes applied to food, biomaterials, and bioenergy.