Lithuania: {Lietuva}

Lithuania is a country with huge potential to become a sandbox for AgriFood Tech solutions as well as one of EIT Food’s RIS countries

What do you need to know about today's Lithuanian agrifood sector?

Agriculture plays a significant role in Lithuania’s economy and generates 3.6% of GDP, while the entire agrifood sector generates 7.1% of Lithuanian GDP. Now, our main goal is to digitalize the entire food value chain at every level in Lithuania and exploit the potential of agrifood technology innovators.

Lithuania has an exceptional army of high-tech talents whose skills are valued all around the world. They have already created some unique digital solutions that contribute to the creation of a sustainable ecosystem in the agrifood sector. Today, they need help in order to be able to take the last step and commercialize their innovative products around the world.

EIT Food can help them by creating cross-border connections between governments as well as private and scientific stakeholders. Also, EIT Food can promote the creation of an advanced agrifood innovation ecosystem where digital technologies would be accessible to all and could be tested by different actors in the sector before making an investment.

Room for Improvement

Lithuania needs to see the agrifood sector as one of the priorities of smart specialization and exploit the potential of clusters operating in this sector. Another challenge that requires solutions is to increase the attractiveness of digital technologies for SMEs operating in the food sector and actors in short food supply chains. The country needs closer cooperation between businesses, social partners, and the government.

Together with EIT Food, we need to develop models based on the principles of a shared economy and the purchase of services rather than the acquisition of fixed assets. It would let us have a green and digital agrifood sector in Lithuania, based on sustainable agriculture, digital traceability, circular food systems, and targeted nutrition.

EIT Food Hub in Lithuania: AgriFood Lithuania DIH and Vilniaus kolegija/Higher Education Institution (VIKO)

AgriFood Lithuania is a digital innovation hub and cluster connecting the most important Lithuanian research, business, and public stakeholders for the common pursuit of digital transformation in the agrifood and associated sectors. By linking stakeholders with international and cross-sectoral initiatives, it serves as a one-stop-shop for AgriFood Tech innovation development and cooperation opportunities. In 2020, the European Commission included AgriFood Lithuania DIH as one of two good practice examples of European sectoral DIHs in the JRC science for policy report.

Vilniaus kolegija/Higher Education Institution (VIKO) is the largest accredited professional higher education institution in Lithuania, which was founded in 2000 merging 8 schools of advanced education. VIKO has 435 qualified academic staff members, 60 of whom are Doctors of Science (PhD), and about 6 500 students in 40 study programmes within 7 faculties: Electronics and Informatics, Economics, Business Management, Health Care, Pedagogic, Arts and Creative Technologies and Agro-technologies. 9 study programmes are carried out in English.