ADDA´s history

ADDA – Agricultural Development Denmark Asia – is a Danish NGO (non-governmental organization), engaged in agricultural development in Asia and Africa. ADDA was founded in 1994 on the basis of personal relationships and contacts in Cambodia and Vietnam.

A small group of ADDA’s founders – Niels Dumas Johansen, Bodil Pallesen and Evelyne Dumas-Johansen – went to Cambodia in February 1994 and initiated a fruitful collaboration with the architect Outey Mea. This led to ADDA’s first project, which covered, among other, capacity building of an agricultural college in Phnom Penh with the support from Danida.

On a founding meeting in March 1994, more than 30 people met and set up a board. The purpose of the association was from the beginning to meet the development needs of agriculture in Southeast Asia. The Association has since completed many development projects to promote sustainable agriculture in the region.

The involvement in Vietnam started in 1999 with the first project “Integrated Pest Management”, which was also supported by Danida. Since then, ADDA has delivered many Danida-funded projects in both Cambodia, Vietnam and from 2009 in Tanzania in Africa, and other contributors have joined supporting ADDAs work.