Created in June 2013 on the initiative of Agence française de développement (AFD), Costea is a multi-stakeholder platform for reflection coordinated by AFEID (French agency for water, drainage and irrigation), bringing together irrigation professionals in France and developing countries, and aiming to produce knowledge, share experiences and inform reflection on the renewal of public policies on irrigation and hydro-agricultural infrastructures.
After an initial phase of work (2013-2017) enabling the dynamic to be launched focusing on four areas (governance, land, economy, technical and environmental performances), Costea has just produced a strategic framework defining the group’s orientations in the run-up to 2021, in terms of work issues (territorial approach, environmental sustainability, resilience and institutional reforms) and in terms of geographic spread (West Africa, the Maghreb and South-East Asia), giving priority to regional and comparative approaches.
GRET, which has been a member of Costea since it was created and participates actively in its work, signed the charter defining the group’s collaboration principles. In the coming years, GRET will continue to collaborate with Costea, in particular on issues relating to land, integrated management of water resources, agroecological practices and governance of infrastructures.
For more information on Costea, how it operates and its work: https://www.comite-costea.fr/
