HSWT and Université de Gabès host workshop on Food Technology and Agribusiness in Tunisia

As part of the "African-Bavarian Alliance for Applied Life Sciences" project funded by the Bavarian State Chancellery, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences and  Université de Gabès hosted the "Industry-University Connections & Entrepreneurship in Food Technology & Agribusiness" workshop in Tunisia at the beginning of November.

Participants from universities, industry and the public sector in Ethiopia, Germany, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia came together to discuss best practices in applied teaching and research in the agricultural and food sector.

President Dr Eric Veulliet, Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity Prof. Dr Carsten Lorz, Prof. Dr Sabine Daude, Marlies Resch, Juliane Glovania and Dragan Brkovic travelled to Tunisia on behalf of the HSWT. The group was accompanied by Dr Buket Sahin, who represented the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's lead market for the food industry.

The workshop kicked off with a visit to Université de Gabès. The University is already implementing many best practices in applied life sciences by cooperating with local industry in its degree programmes (e.g. in the processing and preservation of fishery and aquaculture products, agribusiness and food).

Versatile program in the field of food technology

The delegation then had the opportunity to visit the National Engineering School of Gabès and the tomato factories "Desert Joy" and "La Joie de Hicha". The group also travelled to the Medenine campus of Université de Gabès and met start-ups from the food industry supported by the incubator there. As part of the workshop, the group also visited a seafood processing plant, an olive oil mill for local farmers and a date processing plant in the Zarzis Park of Economic Acitivites. Throughout the week, the participants met many players from the Food Technology and Agribusiness sectors and were able to gain various impressions of the value chain in Tunisia (including for export).

High-level policy dialogue in Tunis

The workshop was rounded off with a high-level policy dialogue titled "The Future of German-Tunisian Collaboration in Applied Higher Education", which took place on Friday in Tunis with external representatives from the public sector. At the end of the event, a joint declaration on the importance of cooperation in applied teaching and research in the agricultural and food sector was signed.

In addition to deepening German-Tunisian cooperation, the workshop enabled networking between partners from different African countries and thus also provided a platform for intra-African dialogue as well as many points of contact for future joint activities and projects.

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