Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA)

CTA, the EU and Dutch flags are waving in the wind in front of the CTA building in Wageningen, the Netherlands

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and EU member states. Since 2000 CTA has operated within the framework of the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement 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 food security, preserve the natural resource base and thus contribute to building self-reliance in ACP rural and agricultural development.” [1]

Background

CTA is mainly funded by the European Union. 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. [2] CTA celebrated its 30th anniversary in Brussels on 4 April, 2014. The Centre, which is based in Wageningen, the Netherlands, is active in seventy nine ACP countries. 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, 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:[3]

Conferences

CTA organises a major international conference annually on topics closely related to its work programme. Recent conferences have been:

Products, projects and services

CTA’s services (available in English and French) include:

Partner organisations

CTA works closely with many regional organisations working in the agricultural sector in ACP countries.

In Africa, these include:

In the Caribbean, partner organisations include:

and in the Pacific partners include:

At international level, in addition to the European Commission, CTA works closely with UN agencies such as FAO, IFAD, and UNCTAD 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.

References

  1. ↑ Cotonou Agreement
  2. ↑ Pye-Smith, Charlie (2014). Stories of Change (PDF). Wageningen: CTA. p. 70. ISBN 978-92-9081-545-7.
  3. ↑ CTA Strategic Plan

See also

External links

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