Supply capacity - Austria

The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), with support from the Austrian Government’s Fed­eral Ministry of European and International Affairs and UNIDO, is establishing the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREE). The ECREE is located in Praia, Cape Verde, with the role of leading and coordinating regional projects and programmes that seek to establish and operationalize mar­kets for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and services in the ECOWAS Region. Its activ­ities contribute to increasing access to modern energy services and improving energy security in ECO­WAS Member States, thereby supporting the region’s economic and social development in an environmentally sustainable manner. The ECREE leads and coordinates projects and programmes in line with the operational objectives of: (i) mobilizing funds; (ii) developing and harmonizing policy and assuring quality; and (iii) building capacity, managing knowledge and improving communication, and promoting investments in renew­able energy and energy efficiency projects.

Donau Soja, with support from Austrian Development Agency, has embarked to increase Europe’s self-sufficiency in soya and aims at supplying customers in Western European as well as Eastern European markets with high quality non-GM soya products from the Danube Region, and even beyond under the brand names “Donau Soja” and “Europe Soya”. This requires a substantial change in the structure of the agricultural value chain, i.e. the way soya is produced and consumed in Europe, which is indeed an ambitious endeavour. The promotion of better cropping systems in Europe by integrating soya into unbalanced crop rotations and improving access of consumers to information are further goals of Donau Soja. A more sustainable crop rotation practice can be achieved e.g. through an integration of soya in places where maize and other cereals are dominating crops, like for example in the Pannonian area of the Danube region. The Donau Soja and Europe Soya Certification and Labelling system for sustainable GM-free food products can help to improve access and transparency of information for consumers.