PARTNERS

The Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) involves a wide range of partners from both outside and inside FAO. While the driving force behind the TCP is the governments and national or regional organizations which request TCP support to solve a specific problem, the men and women in the rural communities who are the direct or indirect beneficiaries of the assistance are also important partners. Within FAO, the FAO Representatives are key players in the process as they constitute the linchpin in the dialogue between the requesting government or institution and the broad range of FAO's technical divisions and services located in headquarters or in the decentralized offices.

Technical Cooperation Programme Service

The Technical Cooperation Programme is managed by FAO's Technical Cooperation Department and is coordinated by the Technical Cooperation Programme Service (TCOT). TCOT works in close cooperation with FAO technical and operational units and with recipient governments to ensure a smooth process of project approval and to facilitate implementation.

FAO Representatives

FAO Representatives (FAORs) in FAO's member countries are heavily involved in all the stages of a TCP project from the earliest discussion of a project idea to the project's closure. In particular, the FAOR facilitates consultations on project preparation between the government and the technical divisions of FAO and, when the project is approved, the FAOR coordinates its implementation. Throughout the process, the FAOR acts in close cooperation and constant dialogue with government institutions, FAOR's technical experts, other development partners, and TCOT. In countries in which there is no FAOR, the regional and subregional FAO offices assume this responsibility.

Technical services

FAO technical services are involved in all phases of a TCP project and ensure that it is designed and implemented according to the highest technical standards. Both FAO specialists, as well as national and international consultants, contribute to a TCP project as required. During implementation, they normally work directly with technical counterparts designated by the recipient government.

Government agencies

A government that has been granted TCP support agrees to dedicate a maximum degree of national effort to the project. It collaborates at all project levels and stages and, whenever possible, it commits technical expertise and resources that will help the project achieve the greatest possible impact.

Beneficiaries and other stakeholders

The direct beneficiaries of a project are usually the rural communities and associations of resource-poor producers in the areas of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but can also include urban and peri-urban producers as well as governmental institutions and services directly involved in finding the solutions to development problems. These actors and partners from institutions and civil society are fully implicated in the formulation and implementation of the TCP project in order to ensure the relevance of its objectives and the sustainability of its results.

Resources