AIP is helping producers in the agri-food park in Costa da Caparica to develop a profitable business, within the territory and governed by sustainability criteria. Training, agricultural study and agricultural technical support are the three main axes of its intervention in this project conceived by the Municipality of Almada (CMA), and were explained to participants in the seminar “Agroparque Terras da Costa e do Mar”, a meeting that it organized at Convento dos Capuchos, in Almada, on June 28th.
“The main reason that gives meaning to AIP’s participation in this project is that it has to be, not only environmentally sustainable and ecologically framed, but also economically profitable”, highlighted Jorge Gaspar, director of the AIP Consulting Unit, during the his intervention at the seminar dedicated to the creation of this agri-food park in Costa da Caparica and the brand with the same name.
“The role of AIP in this project implies understanding that agricultural and economic-financial sustainability of projects are, necessarily, reconcilable realities”, highlighted the person responsible.
“Our role here is to show that in this process that involves some moments of transition, it is these same moments that can enhance the profitability of your businesses, bringing them, from the point of view of management and results, to another dimension”, explained Jorge Gaspar when mentioning that AIP's intervention also covers other needs foreseen in the implementation of the project and in the creation of the “Terras da Costa e do Mar” brand, such as training and technical support in “matters related to marketing; accounting and financial management; the market; and purchasing procedures.
The official website of this agropark – https://agroparqueterrasdacostaedomar.pt/ –, designed and developed by AIP, was presented during the seminar by Jorge Gaspar. An important tool, in addition to offering more information about the project, it allows access to the marketplace where fruits and vegetables from Terras da Costa are sold.
The Agroparque das Terras da Costa e do Mar is a CMA project, in partnership with AIP, Ensaios e Diálogos Associação, FCT-NOVA and ISEL (entities that will execute the project on the ground), started in 2022 and completed scheduled for the end of 2025.
It is part of the Metropolitan Plan to Support Disadvantaged Communities and includes financing from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), specifically the strategic plan for the execution of Local Integrated Operation 2 – Costa da Caparica, with co-financing of 2.75 million euros.
As a partner in this project, AIP fulfills its mission of boosting the Portuguese business fabric and defending the interests of Portuguese companies.
The most representative business association in Portugal plays a fundamental role in this project in training people to develop new skills aligned with the needs of the future, seeking to offer them the necessary tools so that they can value themselves and make their contribution to the dynamization of the national economy.
140 hectares of organic products
Agroparque, one of the most relevant projects of the “Almada Sustentável” program, is part of the “Comunidades em Ação” initiative of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and is based on the development of an organic agricultural area for local consumption. CMA is, through this project, transforming the territory.
Between the beaches and the cliff, there are 140 hectares of agricultural land that will be interconnected with this project, promoting the cultivation of organic products to be consumed by the local population, with the surplus being sold nationally and internationally.
