Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Advancing African Agriculture - Proposal for continental and regional level cooperation on agricultural development in Africa
Date: 2007-07-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Africa, African Union, European Union, agricultural policy, cooperation on agriculture, development aid

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 24.7.2007 
COM(2007) 440 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Advancing African Agriculture 
Proposal for continental and regional level cooperation 
on agricultural development in Africa 

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Advancing African Agriculture 
Proposal for continental and regional level cooperation 
on agricultural development in Africa 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

This  paper  proposes  principles  and  key  areas  for  EU-AU  cooperation  on  agricultural 
development  in  Africa,  focusing  on  regional  and  continental  levels.  Cooperation  at  these 
levels will complement and stimulate agricultural development at the national level, which is 
where  the  most  intense  cooperation  will  continue  to  take  place.  It  will  build  on  the  policy 
orientations  set  out  in  the  ‘European  Consensus’1  and  the  EU  Strategy  for  Africa2.  Both 
documents  reiterate  that  agriculture  and  rural  development  are  crucial  in  terms  of  reducing 
poverty and stimulating growth. To contribute to growth, the Community has indicated it will 
focus  on  the  sustainable  intensification  of  production,  competitiveness  on  regional  and 
international  markets  and  risk  management.  This  should  be  facilitated  in  Africa  by  making 
use of technological development, supported by agricultural research and extension.  

Cooperation  will  be  closely  aligned  with  Africa’s  agricultural  agenda  and  aims  to  stimulate 
progress  towards  the  Millennium  Development  Goals  (MDGs).  Broad-based  agricultural 
growth  has  direct  significance  in  attaining  the  first  MDG  (eradicating  extreme  poverty  and 
hunger)  and  will  be  a  strong  factor  in  progress  towards  the  seventh  MDG  (ensuring 
environmental sustainability).  

Agriculture3 remains the economic base for the majority of the poor in Africa and accounts 
for  about  a  third  of  Africa’s  GDP  and  for  the  bulk  of  employment.  Most  agricultural 
production  comes  from  small-scale  farmers,  with  women  playing  an  extremely  important 
role4.  Agricultural  production,  distribution  and  sales  directly  affect  food  security  and  the 
nutritional  status  of  household  members.  Moreover,  there  is  a  high  multiplier  effect  for 
agricultural  growth.  Higher  incomes  from  agriculture  also  make  the  provision  and  use  of 
social services in rural areas sustainable and affordable. Furthermore, the use made of natural 
resources by farmers is crucial in terms of the sustainability of ecosystems and of biodiversity. 

Agriculture  is  predominantly  a  private-sector  activity,  but  will  require  significant  public-
sector  involvement.  First,  market  failures  have  been  prevalent  and  have  negatively  affected 
socially and geographically marginal groups. Second, environmental externalities exist, which 
require public regulation and intervention to maintain sustainability. Third, agriculture works 
much better when public-domain functions are more effective. 

The cooperation areas listed in this paper provide a long-term framework for assistance. In a 
geographical sense, there is a focus on Sub-Sahara Africa, where the agricultural problems are 
most pressing. Nevertheless a continental scope is relevant in view of the alignment with AU 
initiatives and as several cooperation areas5 will have an Africa-wide dimension. 

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2. 
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(2006/C46/01) 
COM(2005) 489.  
Covering crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry. 
Women produce about 80% of all food in Africa. 
Like livestock disease control, research and SPS 

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2. 

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES IN AFRICA 

2.1. 

Current Challenges  

Agriculture  in  Africa  is  regaining  economic  prominence,  with  a  marked  increase  in 
agricultural sector growth: 2.7% in 2002, 3.0% in 2003 and 5.3% in 2004. Favourable price 
movements  for  a  number  of  products  have  contributed  to  this  trend,  while  improved 
production conditions6 have been another factor for growth. However, for sustained poverty 
reduction, agricultural growth will need to speed up further, particularly in low-income rural 
societies,  where  agriculture  is  likely  to  remain  the  main  driver  for  economic  growth  and 
employment creation.  

The current challenges facing agricultural production and growth in Africa are multiple and 
inter-related.  In  disentangling  these  aspects,  six  areas  have  been  identified  to  help  prioritise 
areas of cooperation7: 

(i)  developing  an  integrated  and  broadly  shared  vision  on  agricultural  development  and  its 
place in sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation, and translating this vision into 
coherent development policies, strategies and budgets;  

(ii) strengthening agricultural sector governance, by re-defining the roles and interactions of 
the  state,  private  sector  and  civil  society,  and  by  improving  the  capacity  of  the  various 
organisations to participate in policy formulation and implementation; 

(iii)  improving  sustainable  rural  productivity  and  enhancing  the  nutritional  value  of 
agricultural  produce,  by  scaling  up  a  range  of  known  technological  and  managerial 
innovations, by expanding research and making it more effective for agricultural users;  

(iv) accessing remunerative markets, by enhancing physical accessibility  and making use of 
(niche) market opportunities8, products and structures leading to higher producer prices, and 
through trade facilitation, including through improved SPS; 

(v) establishing more effective natural resources management regimes and ensuring positive 
economic returns for sustainable use; and  

(vi)  reducing  risks  and  vulnerabilities,  with  respect  to  pests,  diseases,  price  fluctuations, 
market insecurity, climate change and adverse weather events. 

2.2. 

Africa’s Agricultural Agenda  

To  foster  agricultural  development,  the  AU  and  NEPAD  have  launched  the  Comprehensive 
Africa  Agriculture  Development  Programme  (CAADP),  while  Heads  of  State  agreed  to 
significantly  increase  the  share  of  national  budgets  for  agriculture  and  rural  development9. 
Moreover, an overall AU vision on agriculture has emerged on what should be achieved by 
2015. 

6 
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9 

Including the advent of peace in some countries. 
See the accompanying Staff Working Paper for an elaborate presentation of the six areas. 
Markets for biofuels, but also for fair-trade and organic products, are expanding. 
In the 'Maputo Declaration' of July 2003, which committed countries to allocate at least 10% of national 
budgets to agriculture and rural development by 2008/09. 

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The CAADP initiative takes a continent-wide view, but builds on national and regional plans 
for the development of agriculture. It contains a set of key principles and targets, in order to 
(i) guide country strategies and investment programmes, (ii) enable regional peer learning and 
review;  and  (iii)  facilitate  greater  alignment  and  harmonisation  of  development  efforts.  For 
development  partners,  CAADP  offers  important  opportunities  for  progress  on  the  Paris 
Declaration. 

CAADP is developing four thematic ‘pillars’ that serve as policy frameworks for national and 
regional programmes. CAADP programmes at the national and regional levels will follow a 
specific  process  in  a  ‘round  table’  format  that  will  result  in  country  and  regional  ‘CAADP 
Compacts’,  covering  policy  reforms  and  guiding  public  and  private  investments  and 
interventions. 

The  December  2006  AU  Summit10  called  for  some  selectivity  in  pursuing  the  CAADP 
commitments,  based  on  a  recognition  that  limited  resources  and  institutional  capacities 
require priorities that will lead to quick but sustainable gains in terms of achieving food and 
nutrition security.  

3. 

EU-AU COOPERATION ON AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 

3.1. 

Objectives and Principles 

The  following  proposals  for  EU-AU  cooperation  concentrate  on  continental  and  regional 
levels and set out to create an improved enabling environment for agricultural development on 
the continent. Cooperation will be based on the following principles 

•  Commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, with specific reference to the 1st and 

the 7th MDG. 

•  Alignment with African priorities, based on the CAADP processes, principles and targets. 

•  Donor harmonisation and alignment, following the principles of the Paris Declaration. 

•  Building  on  other  AU-EU  Partnerships  and  Facilities,  complementing  EU  initiatives 
which directly or indirectly support rural development in Africa and using existing Africa-
Europe partnerships. 

•  Drawing lessons from relevant EU experiences and good practice, building on nearly 50 

years of agricultural policy experience in the EU. 

•  Application  of  subsidiarity,  supporting  only  those  regional  and  continental  functions  that 

add value to national level interventions. 

•  Policy  Coherence,  between  EU  development  policies  and  agricultural,  fisheries,  trade, 

consumer and energy policies. 

10 

Summit  on  Food  Security  in  Africa,  Abuja,  Dec.  2006.  At  the  summit  a  number  of  strategic 
commodities were identified for which intra-African trade and marketing would be enhanced. 

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In line  with CAADP  demands, cooperation  will focus on capacity building and institutional 
strengthening of regional and continental organisations. 

Cooperation will foster a more strategic and effective role for the State in agriculture, based 
on  the  view  that  the  State  will  primarily:  provide  an  effective  policy  and  regulatory 
framework, create an enabling environment; intervene in situations of market failure; provide 
services  with  a  public  goods  character;  create  safety  nets;  and  be  restrictive  in  its  use  of 
subsidies. 

3.2. 

Priority Areas for Cooperation 

EU-Africa  cooperation  on  agricultural  development  will  focus  on  seven  areas,  based  on  the 
main challenges to agriculture in Africa and on African priorities, as reflected in the CAADP. 

3.2.1.  Agriculture in Development Strategies 

This  area  will  address  the  need  for  agricultural  development  to  be  an  integral  and  strategic 
part  of  the  development  agenda  at  national,  regional  and  continental  levels,  recognising 
agriculture as a key sector for economic growth and poverty reduction. 

Cooperation at regional and continental levels will focus on: 

•  Analysis and capacity building on the inter-relationship between agricultural performance 
and  macro-economic  policies,  external  shocks,  climate  change,  desertification,  and 
biodiversity; 

•  Drawing  lessons  from  national  policy  development  experiences  and  their  impact  on 

agriculture and the rural economy;  

•  capacity building and institutional strengthening in fostering evidence and outcome-based 

policy design, policy coherence and advocacy; 

•  coordination and cooperation across sectors; 

•  supporting the establishment of a continental farmers forum, linking national and regional 

farming organisations, and strengthening their roles in CAADP processes;  

•  strengthening  the  analytical  and  monitoring  functions  in  comparing  and  contrasting 
in  economic,  social  and 

individual  countries 

agricultural  development  paths  of 
environmental terms. 

AUC, NEPAD and RECs will be the main partners, and cooperation will be in support of their 
functions of policy analysis, monitoring, peer review and advocacy, as well as their capacity 
building  roles  for  national-level  organisations.  Regional  Farming  Organisations  will  form 
another  group  of  partners.  Involvement  of  international  organisations  in  implementation  is 
envisaged, while cooperation with the AUC may involve a twinning arrangement with the EC, 
involving  relevant  DGs  (such  as  AGRI,  FISH,  SANCO,  TRADE,  ENV,  RTD,  JRC  and 
REGIO). CTA11 will be involved in advocacy, will facilitate exchanges of lessons learned and 
will assist in strengthening farmers' organisations and their linkages with CAADP. 

11 

The  Centre  for  the  Development  of  Agriculture,  a  joint  EU-ACP  centre  set  up  under  the  Cotonou 
Agreement. 

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3.2.2. 

Sector Governance  

This cooperation area will assist in capacity building at regional and continental levels, with a 
view  to  improving  governance  in  the  agricultural  sector  at  national  levels.  Improved 
governance is expected to contribute to a smoother transition of smallholder farming towards 
commercially viable and sustainable family-based agriculture. 

Cooperation on sector governance will include: 

•  regional and continental policy harmonisation, and facilitating coherence between regional 

and national agricultural policies;  

•  monitoring policy undertakings and conducting peer reviews; 

•  formulating  regional  and  continental  guidelines  on  key  governance  aspects,  including  on 

land and land use policy and on sustainable agriculture; 

•  capacity building and empowerment for participation in sector governance; 

•  promoting public-private partnerships and business-to-business alliances;  

•  strengthening  regional  and  continental-level  representations  of  producer  and  professional 

organisations, with effective advocacy and lobbying capacity, and 

•  comparative analysis and lesson-learning from liberalisation and privatisation processes in 

agriculture, public-private relations and government performance.  

Cooperation is envisaged with AUC in strengthening its political and facilitative role in policy 
development, coordination and harmonisation; with NEPAD and RECs in capacity building, 
monitoring,  policy  analysis  and  peer  review;  and  with  private  regional  and  continental 
organisations,  representing  producers  and  professional  organisations,  in  capacity  building, 
advocacy,  negotiation  and  service  provision.  CTA  will  be  involved  in  the  latter  aspects,  as 
well  as  in  raising  awareness  on  the  basis  of  lessons  learned.  Learning  lessons  from  EU 
experiences,  involving  exchanges  with  the  EC,  Member  States  and  private  sector 
organisations in the EU, may also be used as a form of capacity building on governance12. 

3.2.3.  Research, Knowledge Systems and Dissemination  

The  aim  of  this  cooperation  area  is  to  increase  the  impact  of  agricultural  research  and 
knowledge  systems  on  rural  productivity,  poverty  reduction,  food  security  and  sustainable 
management  of  natural  resources,  taking  into  account  challenges  posed  by  climate  change. 
There  will  be  an  emphasis  on  multidimensional  research  approaches,  on  sustainable 
agricultural production systems and on research with positive impacts on the rural poor. 

Regional and continental level cooperation areas include: 

•  strengthening  collaboration  between  countries  in  research  to  reduce  fragmentation  and 

create synergies;  

•  formulating continental and regional research strategies;  

•  co-financing priority research with supra-national implications;  

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DG  AGRI  may  assist  in  exchange  of  best  practice,  provide  links  with  farming  organisations  and 
information about standards and research. 

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•  capacity  building  for  new  forms  and  channels  of  extension,  training  and  education  and 

strengthening of linkages between research systems, extension services and farmers;  

•  creating and or/strengthening networking platforms for information, knowledge access and 

exchange13; and  

•  enhancing  coordination  between  national  agricultural  research  systems  (NARS)  and 

regional and international research programmes. 

Cooperation  in  this  area  will  take  into  account  the  lessons  from  long-standing  research 
cooperation  between  the  EU  and  Africa14,  and  guidelines  to  foster  cooperation  among 
European partners15. It will be inspired by CAADP pillar 4 and will be aligned with the FAAP 
principles.  The  main  partners  will  be  FARA  and  the  related  Sub-Regional  Research 
Organisations (SROs), the Global Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (GFAR) 
as well as the European Forum (EFARD) with its operational networks16, the CGIAR system, 
other international organisations and research partnerships, including the JRC. CTA will help 
to strengthen the networking platforms. 

3.2.4.  Trade Facilitation, emphasising Quality Assurance and Improvement  

The aim of this cooperation area will be to strengthen Africa’s ability to make markets work 
for  poverty  reduction,  focusing  on  regional  markets  for  agricultural  produce.  Current  trade 
negotiations (EPAs, DDA) are meant to lead to enhanced agricultural trade opportunities for 
African  countries  requiring  an  appropriate  supply  response.  Proposed  cooperation  includes 
strengthening  the  ability  to  influence,  set  and  adhere  to  meaningful  production  and  trade 
standards in order to (continue to) access remunerative markets for agricultural produce and to 
guarantee product safety for consumers.  

Support will specifically build on the opportunities offered by EPAs and will cover: 

•  regional  strategies  and  capacity  building  to  address  structural  weaknesses  in  agricultural 

input and output markets; 

•  capacity  building  for  trade  policy  surveillance,  including  monitoring  of  implementation, 

reporting and enforcement of trade facilitation policies; 

•  building  regional  markets  and  enhancing  intra-regional  trade,  particularly  on  food 

commodities; 

•  establishing  legal  and  regulatory  frameworks  for  harmonisation,  standardisation  and 
control; adopting common regional classification systems and standards, and aligning with 
international ones;  

•  strengthening  reference  laboratories,  networking  with  national  centres  and  capacity 

building for other facilities and institutions involved in testing and compliance;  

•  enhancing  regional  capacities  to  improve  understanding  and  compliance  with  standards, 

including on safe residue levels;  

•  promoting certification schemes for sustainable and socially acceptable production; and 

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14 
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16 

Including farmer-to-farmer exchanges. 
Through both scientific (e.g. INCO, RFP) and development policy instruments. 
Developed by EIARD. 
ECART-EEIG and NATURA 

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•  capacity  building  for  active  involvement  in  regional  and  international  discussions  and 
negotiations  on  (food  safety,  agricultural  trade)  standards  and  other  forms  of  trade 
facilitation. 

Main partners will be the AUC specialised agencies (notably IBAR and IAPSC), international 
normative  institutions,  certification  organisations,  research  centres,  RECs,  regional  farming 
and  exporters’  organisations,  reference  laboratories  and  relevant  UN  agencies.  CTA  will  be 
involved in improving understanding of SPS issues. 

3.2.5.  Natural Resource Management: Land, Fisheries, Forestry  

This  cooperation  area  will  back  improvements  in  governance  and  management  regimes  for 
land,  fish  and  forest  resources  that  aim  to  combine  environmental  sustainability  and 
biodiversity with profitable utilisation and poverty reduction. 

Regional and continental aspects involved in this cooperation area are:  

•  policy coordination and harmonisation, particularly on cross-border resources;  

•  establishing and strengthening coordination and  cooperation  mechanisms  on  cross-border 

resources, within existing regional frameworks;  

•  formulating regional and continental guidelines on land policy and on sustainable resource 

use, combining economic, legal, social and environmental dimensions; 

•  promoting  a  policy  environment  that  makes  it  easier  to  allocate  responsibility  and 

accountability in terms of natural resource use; 

•  exchanging  lessons  and  supporting  peer  review  on  the  effectiveness  of  management 

regimes;  

•  monitoring and surveillance of the state of (and pressure on) natural resources and of the 

effects of climate change on agriculture and natural resources; and  

•  fostering cooperation in combating illegal resource use (including fishing and forestry) and 

trade in illegal products17. 

Under  this  area,  there  will  be  a  focus  on  policy  and  governance,  and  on  management  and 
institutional arrangements for sustainable natural resource use. In terms of land policy and soil 
& water management, support will be aligned with CAADP pillar 1 and related international 
initiatives18.  Fisheries  Partnership  Agreements  will  form  the  framework  to  improve  the 
control, monitoring and surveillance of fish resources. Main partners will be AUC, NEPAD, 
RECs, specialised NGOs, and (sub-)regional land & water management, fisheries and forestry 
organisations,  as  well  as  European  and  international  institutions,  networks  and  platforms 
specialised in these sectors19. CTA will facilitate exchanges of lessons learned. 

3.2.6.  Livestock Development and Disease Control  

This  cooperation  area  will  enhance  the  sustainability  of  the  livestock  sector  and  its 
contribution  to  poverty  alleviation  and  growth,  with  an  emphasis  on  strengthening  animal 

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Building on the FLEGT initiative for forestry resources. 
e.g. TerrAfrica 
Including the JRC ACP Observatory for Sustainable Development. 

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disease  control  knowledge  and  systems.  Cooperation  will  aim  to  reduce  animal  mortality, 
lower livestock production risk and improve public health prevention, as well as to improve 
access to regional and international markets, facilitate rational land use and reduce livestock-
related environmental problems. It involves: 

•  cross-border  cooperation  on  pastoralism,  rangeland  management,  sustainable  livestock 

production systems and livestock trade; 

•  analysis  on  the  interrelationship  between  livestock  development  in  Africa  and  climate 

change; 

•  strengthening  coordinated  networks  of  veterinary  services  and  disease  control  systems, 

applying international standards,  

•  strengthening the pan-African system for coordinating regional and national health systems 

to tackle animal diseases; and 

•  research,  trials  and  knowledge  dissemination  on  disease  prevention  methods,  including 

vaccine development. 

Main partners envisaged are the specialised livestock agencies of the AUC (IBAR, PANVAC 
and PATTEC), ILRI and livestock agencies at (sub-)regional levels, FAO, OIE, and regional 
and  international  livestock  and  pastoralism  organisations.  Use  will  be  made  of  the  African 
Livestock (Alive) Partnership, in which the main stakeholders are involved. 

3.2.7.  Risk Management  

This area of cooperation will address capacities for reducing risks related to climate change, 
natural  disasters  and  price  shocks,  with  a  focus  on  organisational  questions  and  financial 
instruments. 

Cooperation at regional and continental levels will include:  

•  institutional  and  technical  capacity  building  in  disaster  preparedness,  prevention  and 

responsiveness, including to short-term food shortages;  

•  research,  dissemination  of  information  and  capacity  building  on  reduced-risk  farming 

methods and coping strategies;  

•  innovative  systems  for  reducing  the  risk  of  crop  and  livestock  losses  due  to  pests  and 

diseases; 

•  exchanging  information  on  lessons  learned,  and  capacity  building  in  using  market-based 
price risk management instruments, smoothing schemes and insurance mechanisms; and 

•  developing and applying regional and continental early warning systems and linking them 

to national ones. 

Cooperation will include building up the capacity of key public and private organisations and 
improving access for African countries to international financial and insurance markets. Main 
partners  will  be  AUC,  RECs,  and  international  organisations.  CTA  will  be  involved  in 
information  exchange  on  reduced-risk  farming  methods  and  market-based  price  risk 
management systems. 

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4. 

COORDINATION, MONITORING AND REVIEW 

4.1. 

Coordination 

Coordination on EU-Africa agricultural development cooperation will have three interlinked 
dimensions: (i) with African institutions; (ii) with other donor coordination and (iii) intra-EU.  

Coordination with African institutions will use the CAADP framework and will be under the 
leadership  of  continental  and  regional  organisations,  with  a  central  role  for  AUC/NEPAD. 
The CAADP Partnership Platform is the core mechanism for coordinating involvement of all 
development partners at the continental level. Similar platforms are being set-up  at regional 
levels. At national level, the CAADP Country Round Table process provides a comparative 
platform.  In  thematic  terms,  coordination  will  increasingly  be  arranged  around  the  CAADP 
‘pillars’.  

Donor  coordination  and  harmonisation  and  alignment  around  CAADP  will  be  enhanced  by 
the Global Donor Platform  for Rural  Development  (GDPRD),  of  which  the  EC  and  various 
Member States are members. The GDPRD will act as donor focal point on CAADP, and will 
assist in organising the CAADP Partnership Platform meetings.  

Coordination  within  the  EU  will  be  reinforced  through  a  proposed  EU  working  group20  on 
African  agriculture,  technically  supported  by  CTA.  The  working  group  will  strengthen 
synergies  in  and  improve  the  quality  and  visibility  of  EU  financing  for  African  agricultural 
development21.  

4.2.  Monitoring and review 

Progress  in  implementing  CAADP  and  in  cooperation  on  agricultural  development  will  be 
monitored  predominantly  at  the  CAADP  Partnership  Platform  and  the  Africa  Partnership 
Forum (APF). Both will use a similar set of indicators that are being reported upon by AUC 
and  NEPAD.  In  addition,  mechanisms  are  being  developed  for  more  detailed  progress 
monitoring within the CAADP pillars. 

The  GDPRD  will  assist  in  the  monitoring  process,  with  specific  reference  to  donor  funded 
projects  and  programmes,  to  harmonisation  and  alignment,  and  to  consistency  within  the 
CAADP programme. 

The relevance of the policy orientations and strategic directions of EU-Africa cooperation in 
agricultural  development  will  be  subject  to  the  same  review  process  as  the  overall  EU-AU 
cooperation agenda, as currently covered by the EU Strategy for Africa. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

Broad-based  agricultural  growth  in  Africa  is  key  in  progressing  towards  the  MDGs  and  in 
ensuring the affordability of social services in rural areas. Recognising this, seven core areas 
for  AU-EU  cooperation  on  agricultural  development  at  regional  and  continental  levels  have 
been  set  out,  based  on  Africa's  agricultural  agenda  and  primarily  working  through  African 

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21 

The working group is proposed to report to CODEV 
No new financing facility is envisaged.  

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organisations. They focus on capacity building and institutional strengthening of regional and 
continental  organisations  in  order  to  foster  improvements  in  agricultural  policies  and 
governance. 

Cooperation will combine a competitiveness orientation, focused on productivity and growth, 
with broad-based development, focusing on poverty alleviation and social cohesion. For both 
aspects,  regional  markets  for  agricultural  products  will  need  development,  underlining  the 
importance  of  regional  integration  and  trade  facilitation.  Moreover,  sustainable  production 
systems  will  be  promoted,  recognising  the  need  to  adapt  to  external  challenges  like  climate 
change. 

Cooperation  will  be  in  line  with  the  Paris  Declaration,  by  providing  support  for  an  African 
agenda and by using harmonised mechanisms for dialogue and review. 

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Annex 1 - Acronyms 

ACP : Africa, Caribbean, Pacific 

AGRI : Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (EC) 

APF : Africa Partnership Forum 

ARD : Agricultural Research for Development 

AU : African Union 

AUC : African Union Commission 

ASARECA  :  Association  for  Strengthening  Agricultural  Research  in  Eastern  and  Central 
Africa 

CAADP : Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme 

CGIAR : Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research 

CILSS : Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel 

COMESA : Common Market for East and Southern Africa 

CORAF/WECARD : Conseil ouest et centre africain pour la Recherche et le développement 
Agricole/West and central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development 

CTA : Centre Technique de Coopération Agricole et Rural/Technical Centre for Agriculture 
and Rural Cooperation 

DG : Directorate-General 

DRC : Democratic Republic Congo 

EC : European Commission 

ECART : European Consortium for Agricultural Research for the Tropics 

ECCAS : Economic Community of Central African States 

ECOWAS : Economic Community of West-African States 

EDF : European Development Fund 

EIARD : European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development 

ENPI : European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument 

ENV : Directorate-General Environment (EC) 

EU : European Union 

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FAAP : Framework for African Agricultural Productivity 

FAO : Food and Agriculture Organisation 

FARA : Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa 

FISH : Directorate General Fisheries and Maritime Affairs (EC) 

FLEGT : Forestry Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade 

FP : Framework Programme (Research) 

FSTP : Food Security Thematic Programme 

GDP : Gross Domestic Product 

GDPRD : Global Donor Platform for Rural Development 

GFAR : Global Forum on Agricultural Research 

IAPSC : Inter-African Phytosanitary Council 

IBAR : Inter-Africa Bureau for Animal Resources 

IFAD : International Fund for Agricultural Development 

IFAP : International Federation of Agricultural Producers 

IFPRI : International Food Policy Research Institute 

IGAD : Inter-Governmental Agency for Development (Horn of Africa) 

ILRI : International Livestock Research Institute 

JRC : Joint Research Centre (EU) 

MDG : Millennium Development Goal 

NARS : National Agricultural Research Systems 

NATURA  :  Network  of  European  Agricultural  (tropically  and  sub-tropically  oriented) 
Universities Related with Agricultural Development 

NEPAD : New Partnership for Africa’s Development 

NGO : Non-Governmental Organisation 

OIE : Organisation Internationale de la Santé Animale/World Organisation for Animal Health 

PAEPARD : Pan-African-European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development 

PANVAC : Pan-African Veterinary Vaccine Centre 

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PATTEC : Pan-African Tsetse and Tryponosomiasis Eradication Campaign 

REC : Regional Economic Community 

REGIO : Directorate General Regional Policy (EC) 

RFO : Regional Farming Organisations 

RIP : Regional Indicative Programme 

RTA : Regional Trade Agreement 

RTD : Directorate General Research (EC) 

SADC : Southern African Development Community 

SADC-FANR : SADC’s Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate 

SANCO : Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection (EC) 

SPS : Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures 

SRO : Sub-regional Research Organisation 

SSA : Sub-Sahara Africa 

SWP : Staff Working Paper 

TP : Thematic Programme 

UN : United Nations 

WFP : World Food Programme 

WTO : World Trade Organisation 

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