Briefing Paper 55
International Service for National Agricultural Research September 2002
GENDER AND AGRICULTURE IN THE
CTA INFORMATION SOCIETY
Helen Hambly Odame, Nancy Hafkin, Gesa Wesseler, and Isolina Boto
Excitement about new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is tempered by
long-standing problems of gender inequality in development processes. In most developing
countries, women make up the majority of the population working in agriculture, but they
are marginalized with respect to access to ICTs for economic and social empowerment.
Moreover, two-thirds of the world’s 876 million illiterates are women, most of whom live in
rural areas of developing countries.
This paper emerged from a partnership between ISNAR and the Technical Centre for
Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) on the theme of gender and ICTs in agriculture
and rural development. Its aim is to attract the attention of policymakers, donors,
researchers, nongovernmental organizations, and farmers’ organizations to the need for dia-
logue and action on issues of ICT and gender in the context of food security, poverty reduc-
tion, and sustainable development. These issues are on the agenda of many national develop-
ment plans. Attention to them will increase with upcoming global fora, such as the III
World Congress on Rural Women in October 2002 in Madrid, Spain, and the first stage of
the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2003.
As a forerunner to these fora, CTA hosted the first-ever meeting on gender, ICTs, and
agriculture in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific in September 2002. Participants at that
meeting issued a statement on gender and agriculture in the information society (box 1) to
serve as one input to these future international deliberations. With this Briefing Paper and
other collaborative activities, ISNAR and CTA endeavor to communicate issues of gender,
ICTs, and rural development as widely as possible and with the broadest possible range of
stakeholders in developing countries and internationally.
Introduction
The world today is an information soci- sion about the “digital divide,” in which
ety. Information is increasingly used in some members of society or areas of the
all aspects of human activity, and many world are left behind others who have
technologies assist in providing informa- ready access to advanced ICTs. Those who
tion in a timely manner. Yet while informa- prefer a positive perspective on ICTs for de-
tion has always been indispensable in velopment talk of “digital opportunities.”
processes of political, economic, and social One organization that fosters debate on
development, the way that information is these issues is the Benton Foundation,
accessed and controlled today is widely de- through its Digital Divide Network
bated. For example, there is much discus- (www.digitaldividenetwork.org).
ISSN 1021–2310
ISNAR Briefing Papers examine policy and management issues affecting agricultural research in developing
countries. They normally focus on advisory work or research recently completed or in progress at ISNAR. The
target readership are research managers, policy makers, donors, and academics. Comments are welcome.
Copyright © by ISNAR, 2002. Briefing Papers may be cited with acknowledgment of ISNAR as the source.
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Box 1: Gender and Agriculture in the Information Society
The following statement was prepared by the participants of the first-ever meeting on gender, ICTs, and agriculture in Africa, the
Caribbean, and the Pacific, held at CTA, September 11–13, 2002, in Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Actions that empower the poor, broaden their social and economic opportunities, and reduce their vulnerability to disease, hunger,
and disasters are key to eradicating poverty, which is also the primary focus of the millennium development goals agreed by the
international and national development communities.
The advent of the information society offers increased scope for ICTs to be used to address poverty and enhance rural livelihoods.
ICTs can empower rural people by amplifying their voices. They are “enabling” tools that can help poor rural women and men to
capitalize on emerging opportunities, especially in education and income generation. Moreover, they can be used to help to cu-
shion shocks and disasters such as disease and hunger.
However, gender disparities mean that these opportunities are not immediately available to the poorest of the poor—who are
mostly women. This is compounded by the dwindling attention given to rural development itself.
To address these disparities, concerted action needs to be taken in two broad areas:
● enabling rural women to use ICTs, to improve their livelihoods and those of their families and communities and to amplify their
voices in local and national fora;
● ensuring that development actors systematically adopt gender sensitive approaches in their programs, especially those in agri-
culture and rural development.
To achieve such action, five priority areas need to be addressed by all stakeholders, including rural communities, governments,
civil society and the development community.
Priority areas for gender, ICTs, and agriculture
Mainstreaming. Gender must be mainstreamed in all development activities, from formulation and design through to implementa-
tion and evaluation. Ensuring the participation of poor rural women in these processes is key.
Policy. National policy on rural issues and ICTs should give high priority to actions that promote gender equity and provide an
enabling environment for rural women to improve their livelihood opportunities.
Access. Affordable ICT infrastructure and support services must be brought to rural areas. Access to this infrastructure should be
based on community priorities as well as local gender-sensitive principles.
Content. The knowledge of rural women is a valuable resource and driver of local livelihoods. Women have specific information
and communication needs that should be explicitly recognized—and acted upon. The creation and exchange of local and locally
relevant content by rural women themselves or customized to their needs (in local languages for example) should be top priority.
Human capacities. Education and learning opportunities should be made available to all rural women and men to realize the
“education for all” principle. Girls and women should receive priority in ICT and related skill-development schemes, to ensure their
active participation in rural development and in the information society.
The real challenge is to converge efforts on gender, ICTs, and agriculture for rural development. By adopting these
actions and priorities, poor rural women will finally be able to use ICTs in ways that improve food security and provide sus-
tainable livelihoods and ultimately the quality of life in rural areas.
The widely used acronym ICT captures a multitude of n computers and software, including personal data assis-
equipment and services. These range from satellite com- tants, e-mail, speech recognition technologies, com-
munication systems, telephone booths in rural areas, the puter-assisted distance learning, global positioning
Internet and electronic databases, to e-commerce ser- systems, and of course, the Internet;
vices via the World Wide Web.1
n delivery mechanisms, such as public access rural infor-
This paper uses ICT in a generic sense to refer to the new mation centers and telecenters, mobile Internet vans,
technologies that have emerged from the integration of village kiosks, and radio listening groups.
information technology (IT) and communication tech-
nology (CT). This paper explores ICTs in relation to gender (box 2),
specifically focusing on gender and ICT applications in
ICT encompasses an enormous variety of computer, agricultural and rural development in developing coun-
telecommunication, and network hardware and accom- tries. Gender is an issue because access to and use of
panying software: ICTs are influenced by the cultural and institutional con-
texts in which they are applied (Carr 1997). There are
n digital communications, specifically satellites, mobile both opportunities and pitfalls in ensuring that ICTs are
telephones, wireless local loops, and digital radio; gender-responsive. Access to ICTs in agricultural and
rural development can strengthen the social, economic,
1 Definition provided by R. Engelhard of Contactivity (www.contactivity.com) .
2 ISNAR
Box 2: The Gender Concept
It bears repeating: women and men are not homogenous groups. Differences in age, class, race and ethnicity, and disability
status cut across human society and affect status, power, and access to resources. As the 2002 Rural Poverty Report of the Inter-
national Fund for Agricultural Development indicates, in rural areas of developing countries there is no question that women are
more likely to be resource poor, isolated, and less educated relative to men. Gender is the term used to refer to the socially cons-
tructed relations between women and men in a particular society. These relations and the roles that women and men may assume
are culturally and institutionally embedded. Biological sex refers to being male or female. Gender is a social identity that changes
over time (historically) and space (geographically). Therefore, the gender roles of men or women may differ from society to
society.
and political position of rural women in developing Research conducted by or for firms that want to market
countries and in the global information society. products to women purport to show large numbers of
women using the Internet. It is no surprise that these
At the outset, it is important to remark on the lack of reli- studies identify and project large numbers of women
able gender-specific ICT statistics. The major collector users for their clients. In other cases, studies are limited
and disseminator of ICT statistics is the International single-country surveys, generally based on the sub-
Telecommunication Union (ITU) (www.itu.int). How- scriber lists of a few, small Internet service providers
ever, the ITU does not disaggregate any of its indicators (ISPs) or e-mail services. Few studies keep statistics on
by sex, although it is organizing an expert meeting in users of public Internet access facilities by sex. In virtu-
October 2002 to discuss ICT statistics with an emphasis ally all that have done so, the number of women users is
on gender. As yet there are few, if any, reliable statistics much smaller than that of men (Rathgeber 2002).2
on women’s use of ICTs in developing countries.
Gender and Agriculture
There is a strong relation between gender and agricul- changes the management of knowledge. It has become
ture in developing countries. Women are twice as likely instrumental for networking and rapid problem solving,
as men to be involved in agriculture-related activity, and it conveys new information for investment and
according to the 2000 United Nations report on the sta- entrepreneurial activity (Mansell and Wehn 1998). ICTs
tus of women. National averages of female workers in can enable rural communities to address the concom-
the agricultural labor force vary, but globally women itants of poverty: lack of access to education and health
have a principal role in agribusiness, food processing, services, lack of productive opportunities, and isolation
and consumer-related activity.3 As producers, women and lack of information.
who work in the field help feed their families. But it goes
beyond farming alone, to encompass marketing and Even in the poorest nations, ICTs are propelling change
value-added food processing. in agricultural knowledge and information systems. A
farmer may place a call at a rural telecenter to request a
Women do not, however, tend to own or control the key cash remittance from a distant relative and receive the
resources, such as land, on which their agricultural funds only a few days later by digital transfer. Farmers
activities depend. These are usually the domain of men. may use a mobile telephone to verify prices and arrange
Historically, women have also had less access to formal transport for a sale of produce. Rural radio programs
information and communication systems associated may use e-mail, fax, or mobile telephone to enable rapid
with agricultural research and extension. Thus, comple- sharing and dissemination of information. In Zambia,
mentary, conflicting, and collaborative gender roles and for instance, the Federation of African Media Women
relations may characterize developing-country agricul- (FAMW) uses these technologies to facilitate advocacy
ture and rural development (Poats et al. 1988). and communication between farmer radio listening/
discussion groups and politicians. The groups listen to a
Nonetheless, the new ICTs are changing the way the radio program about some development issue, then dis-
world works, including the ways that agriculture and cuss what they have heard and convey their opinions
natural resource management are practiced. ICT and ideas to the program producer, who in turn trans-
2 The Academy for Educational Development’s LearnLink telecenters in Ghana are an exception. By using special outreach strategies, the academy has increased the
number of women telecenter users in Ghana (see http://learnlink.aed.org).
3 Women’s work in agriculture is largely unremunerated and is therefore undervalued and underrecorded (see http://unstats.un.org/unsd). It is often said that 70% of
on-farm labor is performed by women and girls.
ISNAR 3
mits them to the relevant political leaders and govern- Access to ICTs can influence gender relations by, for
ment service agencies. Through this process, both politi- example, helping women to achieve literacy and eco-
cians and constituents are brought into action. nomic empowerment (Hafkin and Taggart 2002) (box 3).
The connection to agriculture is important because in
Practitioners have long recognized that gender roles many developing nations, agriculture provides, directly
change in response to new technologies. The use of tech- or indirectly, opportunities for women to improve nutri-
nology, likewise, affects local economies, culture, and tion and income for themselves and for their families.
the environment. ICT appears to follow these trends.
Promising Opportunities
Not all rural women are passively falling farther behind new virtual “self-help” groups.
the digital divide. Many are unwilling to wait for wider
poverty-reduction efforts to eventually improve their ICT’s potential to improve gender equity by helping
access to ICT and other benefits of social and economic women find new opportunities for generating income
empowerment. Around the world, often through and improving health and education is especially fast-
women’s groups or children’s education, women are moving. The activities described in table 1 illustrate how
actively learning about ICT. They are seeking out access communities are using ICTs to address gender consider-
to ICTs to educate and employ themselves, to lobby gov- ations in agricultural and rural development.
ernments, and even to communicate and cooperate in
Key Constraints
Notwithstanding these innovative, action-oriented ogies. Although the quality of infrastructure varies
approaches to ICT and gender in agricultural and rural across regions, invariably the communication infrastruc-
development, there are gender-related constraints that ture upon which ICTs depend is weaker and less avail-
limit women’s access to ICTs for social and economic able in rural and outlying areas. Telephone lines and
empowerment. These relate to physical access to infra- Internet connections are fewer, and there are fewer relay
structure, social and cultural norms, skills and opportu- stations for mobile phones and fewer earth stations for
nities, and financial resources. satellites. This is particularly true in the Pacific Islands,
where some 500 populated islands lack connectivity of
Physical access to infrastructure any kind (PITA 2002).
Telecommunications connectivity in developing coun-
tries is usually available only within the capital and in Social and cultural norms
major secondary cities. Yet the majority of the popula- Gender biases may prevent young girls and women
tion lives outside of these cities. Moreover, the lack of from accessing and using ICTs, regardless of the physi-
infrastructure in rural areas coincides with gender cal availability of the technologies and the skills of the
demographics: More women live in the countryside than women involved. Rural information centers and cyber-
do men. Together, these facts mean that women are cafes, for example, are often located in places that
much less likely than men to have access to new technol- women feel uncomfortable frequenting. Communica-
Box 3: Empowering Women to Cross the Digital Divide
“The role of women is particularly crucial. Women make up 60% of the world’s poor. Experience has shown that when women are
empowered, the benefits are felt in entire families and communities. It is essential to promote access to and use of information and
communication technologies among women. We must also encourage more women, in both developed and developing countries,
to join the ranks of ICT creators, designers, and decision makers.”
Statement by Kofi A. Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations on World Telecommunication Day 2002 on
the theme “ICT for all: Empowering people to cross the digital divide.”
“[T]he new information technologies hold out a unique opportunity for women in the developing countries to speak out, and to be
more visible and less isolated. Women also contribute towards expanding political, social and economic participation once they
can encourage access to and the sharing of knowledge, establishing networks and strengthening decision-making power.”
FAO denounces the restrictions on access to information by rural women, Rome/Kampala, 29 July 2002
(www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/7600-en.html).
4 ISNAR
Table 1: Initiatives Using ICTs to Address Gender Considerations in Rural Development
Initiative Description
Association for Support and ASAFE (Association pour le soutien et l’appui à la femme entrepreneur) in Cameroon
Assistance to Women Entrepreneurs encourages women entrepreneurs, including rural women operating agro-businesses,
(ASAFE) to use ICT to build their businesses. ASAFE was one of the first women’s organiza-
tions in Africa to train its members in ICTs with specific application to business devel-
www.asafe.org opment (e.g., use of e-mail and Web surfing to locate possible business partners and
development of websites for marketing).
Synergy, Gender, and Development Located in Dakar, Senegal, SYNFEV (Synergie, genre et développement) is the gen-
(SYNFEV) der program of ENDA (Environmental Development Action in the Third World).
www.enda.sn/synfev/synfev.htm Through the FamAfrique website, SYNFEV has created communication and informa-
www.famafrique.org tion space for francophone African women interested in sustainable development
Nakaseke Telecentre The Nakaseke Telecentre of Uganda is particularly interesting because it has focused
on women. It produced a CD-ROM titled Rural Women Earning Money, in both Eng-
www.nakaseke.org.ug lish and the local language Luganda, with graphic and voice interfaces to facilitate
use by illiterate women. The International Development Research Centre and the
International Women’s Tribune Centre collaborated on the project. The telecenter is
now working with Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation and CAB
International to develop local agriculture-related content for delivery to communities
by community telecenters like Nakaseke.
People First Network PFnet has been instrumental in bringing connectivity to the Solomon Islands, where
(PFnet) 85% of the population lives without access to telecommunications. The project facili-
tates point-to-point communication in the remote provinces of the Islands using ICTs
www.peoplefirst.net.sb to further rural development and the flow of peace-related information among all
social groups. To date 40% of users are women.
Self Employed Women’s Association SEWA was founded in 1972 in Ahmedabad, India, as a union of women working in
(SEWA) the informal sector. SEWA has now begun to introduce ICTs to its quarter of a million
members. It has also developed technology information centers, which are dis-
www.sewa.org tance-learning classrooms to provide training to their “barefoot managers,” to build
capacity of their women organizers and leaders, and to help members strengthen
their microenterprises (embroidery, agriculture, incense, gum, and salt). The first dis-
tance-education training was on women’s leadership role in regenerating forests. The
centers are based on SEWA’s Satcom facility, a satellite-based communications net-
work that sends television signals from an earth station to a geostationery communi-
cation satellite and offers two-way communication possibilities. The system gives
community groups quick and easy communication with block- and district-level func-
tionaries.
Women of Uganda Network WOUGNET is a nongovernmental organization established in May 2000 to develop
(WOUGNET) the use of ICTs among women as tools to share information and address issues col-
lectively. Its website contains links to information resources on women in agriculture.
www.wougnet.org In June 2002, WOUGNET hosted an online conference on information access for
rural women.
Fantsuam Foundation While not focused on agriculture, Nigeria’s Fantsuam Foundation has an innovative
approach to improving healthcare and education, primarily for women, through shared
www.fantsuam.com access to ICT facilities. Fantsuam offers ICT training at community learning centers
and operates a van that is a solar-powered rural telecenter in southern Kaduna.
ISNAR 5
tion facilities in rural areas also tend to be shared public until two years ago, the Internet was predominantly in
access, and women have more problems of time (due to English (Nua 2002). Finally, given their limited access to
their multiple roles and responsibilities) and mobility (in schooling, women, especially those in isolated rural
the sense of both access to transport and ability to leave areas, are much less likely than men to have the skills to
the home) than men. To foster gender equity in access to use computers and electronic information (Heeks 1999).
and use of ICTs, the schedules of such facilities need to
be devised to suit women’s hours. In addition, support One example of how ICTs can challenge the link
staff and trainers for women should be made available. between literacy and technology is the use of mobile
The experience of radio listening groups suggests that telephones in the developing world. Currently, mobile
women’s group activities are relatively successful, pre- phones serve more users in developing countries than
cisely because they make use of existing cultural norms do land lines (ITU 2002). Mobile telephones are being
of rural women’s collective activity (Panos Southern made available for use by the rural poor through initia-
Africa 2001.). tives such as the Bangladeshi Grameen Phone. In this
program, the Grameen Bank selects “village phone oper-
Another culturally influenced gender bias is the attitude ators” from among its borrowers, to whom it provides
towards women studying or using IT. Throughout the mobile telephones as an in-kind loan. These operators
world, schools and universities have difficulties attract- then resell wireless phone service, generally from their
ing young women to science and technology studies homes, to fellow villagers. Three-quarters of Grameen
(COL 2001). In addition, the view that information tech- phone operators are resource-poor, uneducated women
nology is not for women goes beyond formal education, who provide services to other women, as male operators
to affect social interactions. In Cajamarca, Peru, for interact with mainly male customers. The operators earn
example, when women undertook information technol- an average of USD 300 per year, more than the average
ogy training with men, the men mocked them saying per capita income in Bangladesh (Richardson et al. 2000).
that computers are for men, not women (Puican 2002).
Poverty and financial constraints
Education, skills, and content Almost all communication facilities cost money. Poor
Women may be marginalized in their access to ICTs by women are less likely than men to own radios or televi-
illiteracy, language barriers, and lack of computer and sions, or to have access to these devices when they want.
information user skills. In the rural areas of developing When paying is involved to access information—such as
countries, women and girls are three times less likely at rural information centers or cybercafes—women are
than men and boys to have formal education (UNIFEM less likely to have disposable income to spend (or they
2002). While ICTs that do not require literacy (e.g., voice hesitate to use family food, education, and clothing
recognition software) are being developed, to date these money for information). Access to ICTs through estab-
are available only in widely scattered pilot projects.4 lished cost-sharing arrangements in women’s groups
Women are also less likely to know the international lan- may be one way to provide women access to information
guages that dominate the World Wide Web. Indeed, resources.
Looking Forward
To investigate and guide further discussion and action coordinate their decision-making to improve their col-
on gender and agriculture in the information society, lective investment in these three areas. One example of
CTA commissioned a special report in September 2002 this is the World Summit on the Information Society
(Hafkin and Hambly Odame 2002). This report identi- (WSIS) in 2003.
fied three critical areas for improving ICT policy and
management with respect to gender in agriculture and In the run-up to WSIS, an unofficial gender caucus has
rural development: through coordinated policies, capac- been created that merits attention and support (see table
ity building, and developing partnerships. 1). Further, organizations that are implementing
national and regional action plans as follow-up to other
Coordinated policies major world conferences—such as the World Food Sum-
While dialogue does exist on gender, ICT, and agricul- mit +5 meeting of July 2002, the World Summit on Sus-
ture, it remains scattered. Improved coordination can tainable Development conference of August 2002, and
help ensure that policy in one thematic area supports the III World Congress on Rural Women (October
related decisions in another. Donor agencies, interna- 2002)—are urged to harmonize their ICT-related efforts
tional organizations, and national public bodies can also with WSIS and the gender caucus.
4 Examples include a number of Indian initiatives, most notably NIIT Ltd’s Experiments with Minimally Invasive Innovation (www.niitholeinthewall.com) and the
IDRC-IWTC CD-ROM for illiterate women in Uganda (www.womenink.org/23.html).
6 ISNAR
Through such coordinated policy and associated include attention to gender issues. Effective leadership
resource allocation processes, a vast but disconnected by both women and men helps organizations integrate
array of information can be pulled together and con- gender vertically in virtually all aspects of agricultural
veyed to stakeholders and complementary and conflict- and rural development management—including the use
ing policies can be identified and acted upon. Sex- of and access to ICTs and their associated processes and
disaggregated data from rural areas is especially rele- products.
vant for further analysis of gender and ICTs. Invest-
ments can be made in ICTs that support female educa- Partnership development
tion. Policy analysis can identify and share successful Rural women can gain voice and influence over agricul-
cases of women’s improved access to ICTs. Small grants tural research and development processes through rep-
that favor rapid mobilization of resources at the local resentative organizations. Such organizations deserve
level is another approach that seems to underlie some attention because they seem to have the greatest poten-
success stories in ICT and development. Mainstreaming tial for bringing ICTs within rural women’s reach.
gender in these funding schemes is needed, however. To Existing partnerships in the use of ICTs, including rural
this end, the World Bank InfoDev program is under- radio, telecenters, and mobile telephones, suggest that
taking gender analysis of its projects (see women can benefit in social, economic, and political
www.infodev.org). terms from collective activities. It is important that
ICT-focused development partnerships with rural wom-
Gender and ICT capacity development en’s organizations do not overwhelm but strengthen
Gender can be mainstreamed in agricultural policy and their capacity to genuinely represent women’s concerns
project management by providing training and informa- (Hambly Odame 2002). As the Grameen Phone example
tion networking, by generating sex-disaggregated data suggests, constructively involving men, whereby
and by developing skills in gender analysis. Organiza- women also gain access to new opportunities offered by
tional and professional performance assessment in agri- ICTs, can improve the success and sustainability of
cultural and development-oriented institutions can also activities.
Conclusion
It is hard not to be encouraged by new developments in Gender is a development issue. Gender considerations
ICTs around the world, since these hold great promise in improving the efficiency of resource use, promoting
for agricultural innovation and rural development. Yet equality, and empowering women are difficult to incor-
the bleak outlook for food production systems in most porate into social institutions and structures—policies,
developing countries tempers this optimism. The world laws, markets, and public agencies. The purpose of call-
has substantial knowledge and information to mobilize ing attention to gender as it relates to ICTs in develop-
in the fight against food insecurity. But the question of ing-country agriculture is to bring about positive out-
access to technologies for information and communica- comes that benefit not only resource-poor rural women
tion is still too often overlooked. but also the entire global information society.
About the authors...
Helen Hambly Odame is a Research Officer at ISNAR. Initiative at the United Nations Economic Commission for
She specializes in gender and institutions in agriculture and Africa (UNECA). Gesa Wesseler and Isolina Boto are
natural resource management. Nancy Hafkin is a consul- both program officers leading work on gender, ICTs, and ag-
tant on gender, information technology, and development riculture at CTA.
and former coordinator of the African Information Society
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The International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in developing countries and to safeguard the natural environment for future
assists developing countries in making lasting improvements in the generations. A nonprofit autonomous institute, ISNAR was established in
performance of their agricultural research systems and organizations. ISNAR 1979 by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
promotes appropriate agricultural research policies, sustainable research (CGIAR). It began operating at its headquarters in The Hague, the
institutions, and improved research management. ISNAR’s services to Netherlands, on September 1, 1980.
national research are ultimately intended to benefit producers and consumers
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange, and utilize
established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP (African, information in this area. CTA’s programs are organized around four principal
Caribbean, and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union Member themes: developing information management and partnership strategies
States. Since 2000 it has operated within the framework of the ACP-EC needed for policy formulation and implementation; promoting contact and
Cotonou Agreement. exchange of experience; providing ACP partners with information on demand;
CTA’s tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to and strengthening their information and communication capacities.
information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the
International Service for National Agricultural Research
Part of the
Laan van Nieuw Oost Indië 133, 2593 BM The Hague CTA
P.O. Box 93375, 2509 AJ The Hague, The Netherlands
Tel: (31) (70) 349 6100 
 Fax: (31) (70) 381 9677 Centre Technique de Coopération Agricole et Rurale  ACP-UE
CGIAR www.isnar.cgiar.org 
 E-mail: isnar@cgiar.org Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU
Research Network
Postbus 380 6700 AJ Wageningen The Netherlands
ISNAR is a Future Harvest center
Tel: +31 317 467100   Fax: +31 317 460067  cta@cta.nl   www.cta.nl
F U T U R ETM
H A R E S T