Strengthening the financial resilience of professional organisations – Example of the UNCPM in Mali
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
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Mali’s leading agricultural umbrella organisation, the Union Nationale des Coopératives de Planteurs et Maraîchers du Mali (UNCPM), was established in 1985 to act as a liaison between the government and horticultural producers. Consisting of 17 horticultural unions and 150 cooperatives, the UNCPM now has over 15,000 producer members nationwide. As part of its development, the UNCPM has created a strategic plan to clarify and prioritise the services offered to its members. These include promoting agroecology, providing representation and building technical… +FLASHBACK 2016 : EDES (COLEAD) is building a new network of trainers to support the cocoa sector
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
The purpose is to ensure compliance with international standards for beans and semi-processed products. This achievement comes at the right time to meet a new challenge: respecting maximum cadmium limits. “The EDES programme is making great strides in the cocoa sector, mainly in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon. A self-assessment guide for the sector has been drafted for Ghana and adapted for the other two countries in cooperation with professional associations and relevant authorities. This guide identifies the good practices… +Tomato trials in northern Nigeria: encouraging early results against heat stress and Tuta absoluta
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
Between February and July 2025, COLEAD conducted field trials in four major tomato production zones in Kano State, Nigeria, as part of the FFM+ programme. COLEAD collaborated with Bayero University Kano (BUK) and the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) on this project. The aim of this research was to identify integrated solutions to two major challenges: heat stress, which is exacerbated by climate change, and infestations of Tuta absoluta, a highly destructive pest. Solutions tested in the field: The teams… +Research & innovation: new guides for sustainable production available in our e-library
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
The Research and Innovation Brokerage Department (R&I) at COLEAD plays a key role in identifying, consolidating and disseminating technical knowledge for the benefit of agri-food sectors. In collaboration with the Information and Communication Department, it develops practical tools to support stakeholders in the sector towards more sustainable and competitive practices. In this context, these two departments work together to continuously review, update and enrich our technical guides so that they best meet the specific needs of value chains. The latest… +Making COLEAD’s resources and network available to the Dominican agri-food sector
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
On Friday 27 June, a webinar entitled ‘Los recursos y la red de COLEAD a su servicio’ was organised specifically for the Dominican Republic, in collaboration with the Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana (JAD). The webinar showcased the wide range of tools and services offered by COLEAD, including: the e-learning platform for training in agricultural, commercial and regulatory best practices; access to the digital library and interactive sector data tools; updates on European regulations via the AGRINFO programme; the crop protection database… +Regulations and standards: upcoming European Union rules on food contamination with mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH)
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
In June, three sessions were organised to inform agri-food chain stakeholders and competent authorities about new EU rules on MOH in food, which are expected to come into force in 2027. To facilitate participation by AGRINFO programme* partner countries across geographical regions, webinars were held for three different time zones with interpretation in French, Spanish and Portuguese. The webinars attracted considerable interest, with a total of 794 people registering and more than 520 taking part in the three sessions. Presentations… +A new version of Agrinnovators.org is now available, providing a global hub for entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
COLEAD is pleased to announce the new version of Agrinnovators.org. This new version has been developed as part of the FFM+ programme, in collaboration with PAFO, the OECD, IICA, PFO and UN Women. While the platform was previously focused mainly on African entrepreneurs, it is now open to all regions of the world, strengthening our commitment to South-South cooperation and knowledge sharing. Agrinnovators.org is a dynamic platform that connects entrepreneurs, companies, and experts to accelerate the development of sustainable solutions… +Gender: COLEAD trains its experts to fully integrate gender into their training programmes
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
As part of the Fit For Market Plus programme, COLEAD has just launched a new training course for trainers dedicated to ‘Strengthening facilitation and communication skills for gender mainstreaming in the agri-food sector’. This five-week programme brings together 16 carefully selected experts, supported by two educational and two technical experts. The course is directly aligned with the practical implementation of COLEAD’s Gender Strategy, which aims to embed gender equality at the heart of sustainable agri-food value chains. The objective is… +‘Voices from the Earth’: the latest news on the global poetry and song contest dedicated to women farmers this year
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
To celebrate the United Nations’ International Year of Women and Girls in Agriculture in 2026, COLEAD has launched ‘Voices from the Earth’, a global poetry and song contest that highlights the vital contribution of women farmers to food security and sustainable development. The theme for 2025/26 is ‘Women farmers are cultivating sustainable futures’, reflecting the priorities of the United Nations and COLEAD’s mission. Latest news: Djaïli Amadou Amal, a Cameroonian writer and patron of the first edition of the competition,… +AGRINFO supporting a better understanding of EU market access rules: the case of Madagascar.
- 10/06/2025
- Posted by: Christelle Bento
- Category: ACP EN, Corp EN, Headline, News
Implemented by COLEAD with the support of the European Union, the AGRINFO programme is a strategic information service designed to help low- and middle-income partner countries understand, anticipate, and adapt to changes in European regulations impacting their agri-food exports. Through its digital platform, newsletter, regulatory digest and interactive Q&A service, AGRINFO gives competent authorities, private sector actors and professional organisations direct access to clear, up-to-date, actionable regulatory intelligence. On 20 May 2025, as part of Europe Week celebrations, the European… +