5.2.1 b Marketability, Local Malt Production, and Feasibility of MountainHER Barley Value Chains: The Brigosa Case Study

The MountainHER project aims at strengthening agroecological cereal production systems in mountain regions of Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Italy, and Croatia, with a focus on empowering women-led cooperatives and building short, high-value barley and durum wheat value chains. Barley is a foundational crop in mountain agroecosystems due to its exceptional resilience to drought, cold, and marginal soils (Ceccarelli et al., 2010). At the same time, the expansion of the craft beer sector in Europe—especially in Italy and Croatia—has increased demand for high-quality, identity-preserved malts (Donadini & Porretta, 2017). Morocco relies heavily on imported malt (FAOSTAT, 2023), offering substantial potential for local production. In the present report we show the results of an evaluation of whether barley grown by mountain communities under agroecology and conventional management can meet industrial malting standards required by maltsters and breweries. Understanding genotype × management interactions is essential for designing resilient and profitable barley-based value chains.