THE RISE OF AGRIFOOD TECHNOPOLES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA REGION

This article assesses whether the promotion of agrifood technopoles is an effective policy instrument that can contribute to the development of the MENA food industry. The emergence of technopoles in the food sector dates back only 5 to 10 years in most MENA economies, having reached different levels of development. The present study describes the main programmes and strategies to foster agro-industrial development in the region using the technopole model and presents findings, conclusions and recommendations based on the data and examples analysed, as well as on international benchmarking of territorial agro-industrial development initiatives, particularly in the Euro-Mediterranean space.