Commission supports creation of skills partnership in agri-food ecosystem Supported by the Commission, the agricultural and food industry has presented a skills partnership under the EU Pact for Skills. © Adobe Stock The goal of the partnership is to upskill and reskill people in the agri-food sector, the largest producing and manufacturing sector in Europe. This will make the agri-food ecosystem more attractive to young people, while offering a lifelong learning perspective for both employers and employees. The partnership signatories include EU associations companies organisations universities national federations The ecosystem ranges from family farms and micro and small food processing companies to large multinationals. In a first stage, the partnership will get a better understanding of the needs of these various actors, with a view to setting realistic but ambitious targets and to monitoring future developments. Commitments include the development of partnerships between education and training organisations, innovation actors and businesses, as well as setting up an EU-wide framework for skills and job profiles. Background Following partnerships in eight other industrial ecosystems, this new partnership is a concrete implementation of the Pact for Skills, one of the flagship initiatives under the European Skills Agenda.