Frequently Asked Questions

What is a technology and practice?
TECA defines technologies and practices as practices or techniques, tools or equipments, know-how and skills, or combinations of these. To be effective, agricultural technologies and practices always need to be considered in their actual context with respect to policies, infrastructure, environment, culture etc.

What does TECA offer me as a user?
The TECA platform offers its users free access to practical information to help small producers in their activities, such as with crop production, livestock, forestry, marketing and more. If the user needs further information on a particular technology or good practice, he/she can contact the organization that provided the information directly.

What does TECA offer me as a member?
TECA offers its members not only the possibility to access technologies and good practices for small producers, but also to provide feedback, share related experiences or get further advice by posting a comment on the page of a specific technology. TECA members can also interact with other registered members in the Exchange Groups  – or online forums – and propose new topics for discussion.

How I can register as a member?
Please click here  to register. Registration is free of charge.

What does TECA offer me as a partner?
As a partner of TECA, you have several advantages:

a) You can publish information from your organization on the global TECA platform, helping other practitioners and small producers to benefit from your knowledge and increasing visibility of your organization’s work;

b) You can establish and take responsibility for new exchange groups, seek feedback on your work, and identify new challenges;

c) You can obtain the software, structure and guidelines of TECA to implement it as a decentralized tool in your organization, community or network. Using TECA in your organization will help you to better document and preserve practical information, and interact with your stakeholders for building or strengthening partnerships and increasing the impact of your organization’s work.

TECA partners enjoy free guidelines and support from the FAO-TECA team to help them with the key steps to upload information, to establish and facilitate exchange groups and/or to install and manage a decentralized version of TECA on their own servers.

How can I become a partner?
Partners are only accepted as organizations, initiatives or institutions (whether public or private), not as individuals. To become a partner, please contact us  and let us know whether your organization wishes to publish information on TECA or to implement TECA as a tool.

Who provides the information published in TECA?
The information on agricultural technologies and practices are provided by TECA partners  inside and outside FAO. These are usually national, regional and international research organizations, advisory services, universities, NGOs, development agencies, farmers’ association, FAO technical divisions and their project partner organizations 

Who can publish technologies and practices in TECA?
We particularly encourage organizations working directly with small agricultural producers to become partners and publish in TECA the technologies and practices that have been successfully tested or applied by small producers.

Partner organizations are responsible for documenting, selecting, uploading and editing the content they provide, and issuing an authorization to FAO for publishing this information on the TECA platform. To ensure the reliability of the information, technologies and practices provided by single individuals cannot be accepted, unless they are connected to a research or development initiative of a partner organization.

Does TECA offer any kind of funding to individuals or organizations?
No, TECA is a platform to share existing knowledge and experiences related to agriculture in the broad sense. TECA has no budget to fund projects. However, by participating in the Exchange Groups, you can enquire other members about specific funding opportunities for your project. One example is the ongoing discussion about funding sources for beekeeping projects.