Mastic trees: Ensuring the future of a national product

ASSOCIATIONS: 21 PRACTICES
The organization "New Agriculture New Generation" aims to create career and entrepreneurship opportunities for youth in the Agrifood sector in Greece. The organization was established under the initiative and with the founding support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of its "Recharging The Youth" program.
The program "Mastic trees: Ensuring the future of a national product – Knowledge transfer and innovation network in Chios" aims to enhance mastic cultivation techniques and create a sustainable network of knowledge transfer among mastic producers in Chios. It is funded by the New Agriculture New Generation organization and the Chios Mastic Growers Association with the support of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Participants of the first phase:
-Mastic producers aged 18-45 (or 46-55 if necessary)
-Members of the primary cooperatives of the Chios Mastic Growers Association, willing to participate in the training program and transfer their knowledge to other producers in their region.
Participants in the second phase:
-All interested mastic producers in Chios.
18 months, starting from December 2023 to May 2025, with training sessions held 2-3 days per month.
The program follows the successful initiative "Mastic Trees: Modern Techniques of Propagation and Cultivation," which was implemented from October 2021 to May 2023 in Chios. During this period, 48 mastic tree growers were trained in new practices, aiming to develop into the most skilled mastic tree producers of tomorrow. It is worth noting that this is the first time a comprehensive and systematic training program for mastic tree producers has been implemented, analyzing the value chain from production to modern uses of mastiha.
The program "Mastic trees: Ensuring the future of a national product" aims to create the first organized network for the transfer of knowledge and innovation for mastic cultivation on the island of Chios through the training of 20 selected, specially trained mastic tree producers. This effort is in collaboration with the organization New Agriculture New Generation, the Chios Mastic Growers Association, and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
This network will benefit every interested mastic tree grower from the 24 mastiha villages participating in the program. Throughout the cultivation cycle, each interested mastic tree producer will be educated on topics related to mastic cultivation—outlined below—through interactive knowledge and innovation transfer. The exchange of knowledge and experiences will take place through transfer groups formed by clusters of villages, with the 20 specially trained mastic tree producers as reference points.
There are no results yet as the action started in December 2023 and will end in the summer of 2025.
Chios, Greece
Cooperation with: Chios Mastic Growers Association and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Founding Donor of the organisation "New Agriculture New Generation" is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
10 trainer and 1 project manager
There are no results yet as the action started in December 2023 and will end in the summer of 2025.