GFA continues to support the Bilateral Cooperation Program of German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)

In January 2020, GFA officially started the new project phase as General Agent for the Bilateral Cooperation Program (BKP) of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). GFA’s primary responsibilities include the provision of program management expertise to the Ministry, the development of new projects, the monitoring of ongoing projects and the collaboration with project implementation partners. The Bilateral Cooperation Program comprises two sections: Agriculture and forest management.

Since 2006, the Bilateral Cooperation Program of the BMEL has been strengthening the German-international exchange between political and business actors from the agricultural sector. The partner countries are emerging nations that are important in terms of agro-food policy and are the focus of the BMEL’s bilateral cooperation.

All projects are developed and managed in close consultation with partner countries and often build on existing reform projects. Since they are mostly implemented together with the administrations and institutions of the partner countries, the project outcomes can often be implemented directly into the countries’ national legislation.

There are three main project types:
Dialogue: At the core of the Bilateral Cooperation Program is political and technical dialogue on agri-food sector topics. Public authority representatives, scientists and political decision-makers from partner countries and Germany can interact in this context on legal and administrative framework conditions on an even footing.
Practical knowledge, demonstration and training projects (DTP): Practical demonstration projects are one of the ways we train partners in sustainable production of agricultural products.
Self-organization or cooperation of associations of agricultural cooperatives or associations: One of the methods of sustainably strengthening self-organizing forces in agriculture is through association cooperation projects. Umbrella organizations of the agri-food sector are supported to better represent the interests of their members and offer tailored services that meet demand.

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