FERT is an international cooperation association, created in 1981 through the will of leaders from several professional cereal organisations (AGPB, ITCF (nowadays ARVALIS), UNIGRAINS) and several personalities concerned with the problems faced by the food and agriculture economy in developing countries. FERT's mission is to contribute to create the conditions for farmers in these countries to provide a better supply for their country by improving their living and working standards.

To this end, FERT promotes the creation, by farmers, of organisations that bring them durable solutions to the problems they meet in the course of their activity as well as the defence of their interests.

FERT is leading about twenty actions at field level in over 10 countries in which French professionals are mobilised in a step of solidarity to share their long and rich experience in professional commitment and in the management of their organisations.

FIELDS OF INTERVENTION

Agricultural economy is FERT's main field of intervention, through the following lines of work:

Financing of the agriculture :
creation and development of systems of Savings and mutual agricultural Credit.

Supply of farming inputs and commercialisation of agricultural produce :

Organisation of patterns and procedures :
Professional representation of producers and services to farmers :

GEOGRAPHICAL ZONES

The actions undertaken by FERT cover five geographical zones:

Central and Eastern Europe

Latin America

The Mediterranean Basin

Subsaharian Africa

Indian Ocean

PARTNERSHIPS and NETWORKS

To carry out its mission of support to people who play a role in the development of agricultural economies, FERT intervenes at the request of producers or countries wishing to benefit from the experience of French farmers and their organisations.

FERT is committed into action, side by side with actors in the field, to foster local initiatives and to subsequently bring together the human, technical, economical and organisational conditions that are essential for the implementation of durable dynamics of agricultural and rural development.

FERT has developed partnerships with many farming structures (Cooperatives, Chambers of agriculture, Regional “caisses de crédit agricole” or agricultural credit cooperatives, National federations of producers, Training Institutes, Technical and professional institutes, etc). Not only do these structures bestow their technical skills, but also and foremost their experience and know-how, especially in the matters of mutual insurance system and of management of cooperative systems.

Today such partnership more and more involves a gesture of solidarity as well as professional and economical interest in the long run.

Lastly, FERT is a member of three collective organisations that intervene in development and international solidarity:

Coordination Sud

Coordination d'Agen

AGRICORD

FINANCIAL RESSOURCES

Of the funds raised by FERT, amounting to 3.58 million euros in 2006, as high as 46,7% come from private funding and 53.3% come from public contributions: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French Development Agency, European Commission.

The main source of private funding comes from professional organisations of French cereal producers.

INTERNAL ORGANISATION

FERT is composed on the one side by statutory decision-making bodies and on the other by an executive body.

The statutory bodies
The executive bodies come along two lines:

CONTACTS

President : Henri de Benoist
Director : Anne Panel

In Madagascar and in Tanzania FERT has signed a headquarters agreement with authorities and has a representation.

In Albania, Brazil, Belarus and Tunisia, FERT has established a privileged partnership with a local organisation : ADAD in Albania, AGRIFERT in Brazil, the International Foundation for Rural Development in Belarus and AGER in Tunisia.