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Our partners

Our Partners

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY BODIES

International Commodity Bodies (ICBs) are independent and autonomous legal personalities with their respective Terms of Reference, Rules of Procedure and Board as a highest authority. Intergovernmental cooperation between producers and consumers of commodities takes place in the form of international commodity agreements (ICAs) and international study groups (ISGs). ICBs have been designated by the CFC as ICBs eligible for the CFC projects. Most of ICAs and ISGs were set up as a result of the UN Conferences on respective commodities organized and serviced by UNCTAD, an important segment of work in this area is to convene and service, United Nations Conferences and meetings related to the negotiations, renegotiations or functioning of new agreements. Currently UNCTAD has a status of observer to all ICBs.

THE OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The OPEC Fund for International Development is the development finance institution established by the Member States of OPEC in 1976 as a collective channel of aid to the developing countries. The OPEC Fund works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international donor community to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty in all disadvantaged regions of the world. It does this by providing financing to build essential infrastructure, strengthen social services delivery and promote productivity, competitiveness and trade. The OPEC Fund’s work is people-centered, focusing on projects that meet basic needs – such as food, energy, clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education – with the aim of encouraging self-reliance and inspiring hope for the future.

EU ALL-ACP AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES PROGRAMME

The All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme (AAACP) was launched in September 2007 and has an overall objective to reduce poverty in ACP countries. The premise of the AAACP is that the participatory development of sectoral strategies is a prerequisite to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of commodity chains in ACP countries. Once such strategies are formulated, they must be translated into concrete activities aimed at their implementation. The programme has introduced an innovative approach which consists in bringing together five major international organisations already active in the commodity field and in developing countries. They have specific areas of expertise and knowledge-base which complement each other to the benefit of the ACP stakeholders.

TRUST FUND WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS

In December 2013, an agreement was signed in which the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation confirmed support for a new program managed by the Common Fund for commodities. Entitled CFC Dutch Trust Fund Commodity Partnership DTF I. This program facilitates increased support for enhancing commodity production and productivity, improving value chains, modernizing irrigation and strengthening the position of small-scale producers. The recently signed Agreement is the second trust fund arrangement between the CFC and the Dutch government. The previous partnership was an agreement to enable the CFC to provide additional assistance to projects in developing countries that improved access to markets, enhanced diversification and value addition, improved market structures and increased effective participation of all stakeholders in value chains.

REGIONAL ECONOMIC COMMUNITIES

CFC emphasizes the role of Regional Economic Communities in the identification and implementation of the projects financed by the CFC. The Fund has been seeking additional avenues of engagement and cooperation with regional economic commissions (RECs) and with institutional members to extend its commodity advocacy initiatives. In the context of CFC’s multi-country approach, RECs have an important role to play in expanding economy of scale among cooperating regional communities. The priorities of RECs, however, have to be coherent with the priorities of the respective ICBs in order to avoid duplication of project development and submission for financing by the CFC.

PROJECT EXECUTING AGENCIES AND OTHER IMPLEMENTATION PARTNERS

The CFC places no general restrictions on the status and organizational form of its project implementation partners. Depending on the needs of practical activities involved, the CFC collaborates with other international agencies, governments, parastatal institutions, national and multinational private sector companies, reseachers, NGOs, cooperatives and any other partners who share the objectives of particular actions supported by the Fund, and who can practically support their implementation.

Special Mentions

The Common Fund’s partnership with OPEC Fund for International Development is historic and dates back to the very inception of the Fund. The OPEC Fund not only facilitated and paid capital subscription for as many as 37 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) but continues to make contributions under ”Framework of Financial Support” towards CFC’s commodity development projects for the least developed countries and poorer strata in other developing countries.

The Kingdom of Norway and the European Commission have been supportive of the Fund and have sponsored capital contribution of 9 and 3 countries respectively.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands: A Trust Fund arrangement set up by the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation to support CFC projects with co-financing contributions for the Five Year Action Plan.