iCRA and TaP Consultancy Service join hands to promote sustainable agriculture in Ethiopia

March 30, 2023

A  new partnership between iCRA and TaP Consultancy Services in Ethiopia

At iCRA we believe in the power of partnerships. We see that trusted partnerships can significantly improve communication and collaboration, reduce transaction costs, and increase efficiency in agricultural value chains. We help others to harness the value of trusted partnerships by teaching skills to establish and strengthen partnerships. 

It is important for us to acknowledge that to succeed, we need strong partnerships ourselves. During iCRA’s 40 years of experience, we have relied on our extensive, global network of consultants located in the countries where we work. Rather than build international iCRA offices, we like to work with individuals and small companies who can provide insight into their local context but who remain independent.  We have begun formalising these valuable relationships by stating out loud, through partnership agreements, what we each expect from and contribute to each other. Yesterday, we signed our sixth partnership agreement this year in a ceremony on the 8th flour of the Nexus hotel in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Mariette Gross, the director of iCRA, and Paulos Desalegn, from TaP Consultancy, sat side-by-side as they put their signatures to paper. 

iCRA and TaP join forces to cooperate in building a modern, thriving, sustainable agricultural sector in Ethiopia. Key to this collaboration is nurturing a solid foundation of trusted agribusiness partnerships which support the agricultural sector in Ethiopia provide nutritious, high-quality food. The two organisations will assist the community in developing practical skills and competences to cultivate and manage partnerships that result in fruitful action. Together, TaP Consultancy Service and iCRA aim to become the centre of excellence in Ethiopia in delivering practical, competence-based training-for-trainers and advisory services around partnership facilitation, partnership governance and training agribusiness and agricultural knowledge professionals.  

At the signing Paulos, who has been working with iCRA since 2016, described his view if the partnership “I think we share this vision of developing a new generation of agribusiness and agri-education professionals. Because of that vision sharing, we take it to a next level of partnership, coming to a commitment. iCRA has been active in Ethiopia for a long time, and in the coming few years we can expand it. By being a local presence TaP consultancy services can help and I am committed to collaborate.” 

The ceremony also served as an iCRA alumni meet-up in Ethopia. Former course participants witnessed the signing and enjoyed sharing memories of their time with iCRA. They too, are valuable members of the iCRA community. We would like to thank everyone who was present and say cheers (or chin chin) to another partnership established! 

 

For additional information and questions, please contact Cees van Rij, Coordinator Agribusiness at iCRA, cees.vanrij@icra.global or +31 6 10888314.