Description
The programme provides the basis for the design and implementation of EU-funded development activities under the Action plan for Agricultural Commodities, Dependence and Poverty, and the EU-Africa Partnership for Cotton Sector Development. Five I/O’s are involved: ITC, FAO, CFC, UNCTAD, and the World Bank, with UNIDO as observer. ITC’s sector value-chain based strategy formulation approach and ITC’s Market Development Service, lead the design, prioritisation and programming of development activities and market orientation (supported on the producer level by FAO and World Bank). This market-led approach to strategic planning and organisation of development activities is yielding projects for implementation in the areas of: - Capacity-strengthening of sector TSIs to support the development and delivery of sector strategies, - Improvement of access to, and use of markets, especially by rural communities, - Facilitation of access to business linkages with large exporters, TNCs, importers and support services, - Development services and training of producer organisations in market compliance, conformity and value added product development aspects. The ITC participative strategy approach also facilitates country stakeholders to better plan and coordinate development activities, manage complementarities and coherence of I/O development activities.