PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marie K. Thompson;
mkthompson@ifdc.org
DATE: June 4, 2004
IFDC and CILSS
Formalize Their Cooperation
Lome, Togo, June 4, 2004—IFDC, an International Center for Soil
Fertility and Agricultural Development, and the International
Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel—Comité Inter-Eats de
Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) signed a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) on May 1, 2004, in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso.
The two organizations thereby formalized their commitment to consult
each other and strengthen their cooperation in areas of common
interest. Mr. Musa S. Mbenga, Executive Secretary of CILSS, and
Robert J.J. Groot, Director of the Africa Division of IFDC,
representing their respective organizations, signed the document.
In a short address, Mbenga stressed the relevance and importance of
the event in light of the common principles underlying the programs
of CILSS and IFDC. “Our two organizations aim to promote
agricultural development to ensure food security and reduce poverty
in our countries while protecting the natural resources for the sake
of the present and future generations,” he said.
The cooperation between the two organizations focuses on key issues
related to food security, agricultural development and environmental
protection. These issues include integrated soil fertility
management, agricultural policy reform, information systems on
agricultural markets, development of agricultural input and output
markets, institutional development for the private sector and farmer
organizations.
In his address, Groot highlighted the mutual advantages of this
cooperation, which is based on a win-win situation. “The synergy
that will be created will enable our two organizations to better
avail themselves of new opportunities in the international
development arena,” he said. “The document we signed has no
significance in itself if we don’t breathe life into it through the
implementation of common initiatives aiming at improving the working
and living conditions in the rural world,” he noted.
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