The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and COLEACP-PIP signed a partnership agreement on 20 October 2011, with a view to developing joint and/or complementary actions and strategies in areas of common interest within their respective expertise, objectives and mandates.

FAO is an international organisation mandated to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations, and contribute to the growth of the world economy. Through its policies and actions in the field, FAO endeavours to achieve safe food for all and to ensure that all human beings have regular access to high-quality food.

Through the activities of PIP in the horticultural sector of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, COLEACP ensures that the major advances in export horticulture also benefit production destined for local and regional markets, thereby contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of poverty alleviation, food security and environmental sustainability.

The new COLEACP-PIP/FAO partnership confirms their joint desire to make their actions more effective by:

• Avoiding duplication
• Achieving economies of scale by sharing and pooling resources and expertise

For short-term programmes such as PIP, partnerships with the like of FAO or other international organisations can enable the number of potential beneficiaries to be increased with marginal additional cost.

Over the next few months, COLEACP-PIP will continue to work towards partnering with other programmes, organisations and institutions to share its expertise and ensure that the tools developed for the horticultural industry in ACP countries are as widely accessible as possible.