CTA’s Annual Seminar 2010 is being organised in collaboration with the NPCA (NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency).

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) group of states and the European Union member states. Since 2000, it has operated within the framework of the ACP-EC Cotonou Agreement.

CTA’s tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to information for agricultural and rural development and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in this area. CTA’s programmes are designed to: provide a wide range of information products and services and enhance awareness of relevant information sources; promote the integrated use of appropriate communication channels and intensify contacts and information exchange (particularly intra-ACP); and develop ACP capacity to generate and manage agricultural information and to formulate ICM strategies, including those relevant to science and technology.

CTA is financed by the European Union.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a programme of the African Union (AU) adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2001. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders to pursue new priorities and approaches to the political and socio-economic transformation of Africa.

In February 2010, the 14th AU Assembly established the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) as a technical body of the AU to replace the NEPAD Secretariat. The NEPAD Agency is a key outcome of the integration of NEPAD into the AU structures and processes.

The core mandate of the NEPAD Agency is to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of regional and continental priority programmes and projects and to push for partnerships, resource mobilisation and research and knowledge management.

Steering Committee 2010

A steering committee composed of international experts has been constituted to CTA in determining the design and structure of the seminar.

• 1^st row (front): Samuel Mikenga, André Vugayabagabo, John Woodend, Oumy Ndiaye, Avril Alexander, Thilda Chevouline
• 2^nd row: Clément Ouédraogo, George de Gooiger, Gert Jan Veldwisch, Maimbo Malesu, Fred Kalibwani
• 3^rd row: Therese Burke, Stefan Thiemann, Judith Ann Francis, José Filippe Fonséca
• Absent: Rutgerd Boelens, Karen Hackshaw

The committee includes:

• Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS)
• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA)
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)
• Southern and East Africa Rainwater Network (SEARNET)
• Global Water Partnership - Caribbean (GWP-C)
• University of Wageningen (WUR)
• World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)