About PROTA

The Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) programme was initiated in 2000 and developed into an international partnership of 11 institutions in 11 countries during the Preparatory Phase 2000–2003. Since February 2003, PROTA has been operating as an international foundation domiciled in Wageningen, the Netherlands. PROTA is a major ‘information brokerage and knowledge repatriation’ programme. The objectives are to bring the ‘world literature’ on the useful plants of Tropical Africa, now accessible only to the resourceful happy few, into the (African) public domain, and contribute to greater awareness and sustained use of the plants, with due respect for traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights. PROTA will describe the estimated 7,000 useful plants during the Implementation Phase 2003-2012. The information carriers will be freely accessible Web databases (www.prota.org), a low-price Handbook and CDRom series featuring 16 Commodity Groups, and Special Products for each commodity group for rural development, education, research and policy actors (all in English and French).

PROTA 1: Cereals and pulses PROTA 2: Vegetables (2004) PROTA 3: Dyes and tannins (2005) PROTA 4: Ornamentals PROTA 5: Forages PROTA 6: Fruits PROTA 7: Timbers PROTA 8: Carbohydrates PROTA Foundation PROTA 9: Auxiliary plants Wageningen University PROTA 10: Fuel plants P.O. Box 341 PROTA 11: Medicinal plants 6700 AH Wageningen PROTA 12: Spices and condiments The Netherlands PROTA 13: Essential oils and exudates Tel: +31-317-484587 PROTA 14: Vegetable oils Fax: +31-317-482206 PROTA 15: Stimulants E-mail: prota@wur.nl PROTA 16: Fibres Website: www.prota.org