Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA)
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The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) was established in 1983 under the
Lomé Convention The Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 71 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, first signed in February 1975 in Lomé, Togo. History The first Lomé Convention (Lomé I) ...
between the
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. Formerly known as African, Caribbean and Pacific Group ...
and
EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. Since 2000 CTA has operated within the framework of the ACP-EU
Cotonou Agreement The Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States ("ACP countries"). It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin's largest city, by 78 ACP countries (Cuba did not sign) and the ...
with a mission to “strengthen policy and institutional capacity development and information and communication management capacities of ACP agricultural and rural development organisations. It assists such organisations in formulating and implementing policies and programmes to reduce poverty, promote
sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
, preserve the natural resource base and thus contribute to building self-reliance in ACP rural and agricultural development.”. The centre is closed in 2020, after the end of the Cotonou Agreement and the subsequent end of its financing.


Background

CTA is mainly funded by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. It initially focused on information dissemination but, more recently, has moved towards implementing some technical programmes. It works primarily with partner organisations at regional level in the Caribbean and Pacific and at sub-regional level in Africa. CTA celebrated its 30th anniversary in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on 4 April 2014. The centre, which is based in
Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many t ...
, the Netherlands, is active in seventy nine
ACP countries The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. Formerly known as African, Caribbean and Pacific Group o ...
. It also has an office in Brussels. Although it does not work in non-ACP countries, participants from these countries are welcome to attend its annual conferences and to download its publications. While CTA's resources are derived mainly from the
European Development Fund Global Europe, officially the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is the financial arm of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, which provides funding for the European Neighbourhoo ...
, it also obtains funding from other European programmes, countries or donors through grants or co-funding for operations.


Key activities


Programmes

CTA focuses on three key areas:
CTA Strategic Plan * Multi-stakeholder policy formulation and implementation at national, regional and international levels. Discussion of issues such as food and nutritional security, the Effects of climate change on agriculture, impact of climate change on agriculture, regional trade, and agricultural innovation is promoted, with an emphasis on the involvement of farmers’ groups, the private sector, women and youth. CTA works with policy-makers in the ACP and the EU to promote dialogue and convey key policy messages. *Efficient agricultural value chains. With partners in ACP countries, CTA works to maximize inclusion of smallholders in new, more sophisticated value chains as well as to strengthen their involvement in priority food crop and commodity markets. Improving market information, promoting the flow of finance to and through value chains, and improving capacity of key players at all stages of chains are some of the centre's priority areas, as is the development of agricultural trade by ACP countrie

*Information, communication and knowledge management for agricultural and rural development. To help ACP institutions to promote policies and innovations that can benefit rural communities, CTA publishes both journals and books (including online) and has many specialized websites. It works with ACP countries to develop knowledge management skills and to promote the use of communication channels, old and new, to improve the flow of information (e.g., e-communities, web portals, seminars, and study visits). It has an active programme of training and development for ICT for Development and web2forDev, web 2.0 for Development. It offers a wide range of publications (in English and French) available free of charge to organisations in ACP countries or for free download by all


Conferences

CTA organises a major international conference annually on topics closely related to its work programme. Recent conferences have been: *''International conference on Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services,'' Nairobi, 2011 *''Making the Connection: value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture,'' Addis Ababa, 2012 *''ICT4Ag: The digital springboard for inclusive agriculture'', Kigali, 2013 * ''Fin4Ag'', a conference on Value Chain finance will be held in Nairobi in July 2014.


Products, projects and services

CTA's services (available in English and French) include: *'' Spore (agricultural publication), Spore''. A bi-monthly magazine circulated in English, French and Portuguese in hard copy in all ACP countries and available online for all, providing information for ACP agricultural development *''
ICT Update ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...
''. A current awareness bulletin on ICT issues for ACP agriculture *''Knowledge for Development''. Described as an Observatory on Science, Technology and Innovation for ACP Agricultural and Rural Development * ''ARDYS''. Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society. *''Brussels Development Briefings.'' Bi-monthly Briefings on key issues related to agriculture and food security in ACP countries *''Web2forDev Gateway''. Updates on Web 2.0 applications used in the context of rural development, highlighting training courses on offer


Partner organisations

CTA works closely with many regional organisations working in the agricultural sector in ACP countries. In Africa, these include: *
NEPAD The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to p ...
, the New Partnership for Africa's Development * FANRPAN, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network * SACAU, the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions * EAFF, the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation * EAGC, the Eastern Africa Grain Council * IIRR, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction * ROPPA, the Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa * RUFORUM, Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture * PROTA, the Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Programme (retired in 2013) In the Caribbean, partner organisations include: *
CARDI Cardi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Beatrice de Cardi (1914–2016), British archaeologist *Lodovico Cardi (1559–1613), Italian painter and architect better known as Cigoli * Ezio Cardi (born 1948), Italian c ...
, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute * CaFAN, the Caribbean Farmers Network * CARICOM, the Caribbean Community * IICA, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and in the Pacific partners include: *
MSG Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium Salt (chemistry), salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a fl ...
, the Melanesian Spearhead Group *
Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa ...
(SPC) * Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network * PIPSO, the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation * NARI, Papua New Guinea's National Agricultural Research Institute At international level, in addition to the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
, CTA works closely with UN agencies such as
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
,
IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to addres ...
, and
UNCTAD The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...
and with national organisations in the EU, such as CIRAD in France, GIZ in Germany and KIT in the Netherlands, as well as with universities, including
Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...
.


See also

*
Spore (agricultural publication) ''Spore'' was a magazine published by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in English, French and, for a time, in Portuguese. It covered a wide range of agricultural topics and was extensively distributed and wi ...


References


External links

*{{Official website, http://www.cta.int
CTA’s Annual ReportsSporeICT updateKnowledge for DevelopmentARDYSBrussels Development Briefings.Web2forDev Gateway
Agricultural organisations based in the Netherlands European Union and agriculture Information and communication technologies for development Economic development organizations Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States