Tropical  Agriculture Association

(Bringing together those concerned with the role of agriculture and poverty alleviation in sustainable development). Registered charity No. 800663.

Constitution

 

SECTION 1: The Association, its purposes and status

<> 1.1 There shall be an association established in the United Kingdom by the name of the Tropical Agriculture Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association). This Constitution defines the purposes and status, membership and govern­ance of the Association. <> 1.2 The purposes of the Association are to be an association of practitioners (including research workers, teachers and advisers, development specialists and students) and of others con­cerned with the science and practice of agriculture and its impact on human develop­ment.  Particular emphasis is given to those regions of the world which have tropical, sub-tropical and winter rainfall climates, and particularly in developing countries as defined by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and emerging economies in other parts of the world.  However, the Executive Committee of the Association shall determine the limits of those regions according to its discretion in particular instance.
<>
1.3 In furtherance of the said objects but not other­wise the Association may:

(i) Bring together in conference representa­tives of voluntary organisations, Govern­ment departments, statutory authorities and individuals, to address memoranda and the like to national or international public and private agencies and to present evidence to commissions of inquiry and the like;

(ii) Promote and carry out or assist in pro­moting and carrying out research and investigations, surveys, development pro­jects and the like, and to publish the useful results thereof;

(iii) Arrange and provide for or join in arranging and providing for the holding of confer­ences, seminars, meetings, workshops and the like;

(iv) Collect and disseminate information on all matters affecting the said objects and exchange such information with other bodies having similar objects wherever they might be located;

(v) Encourage and in appropriate cases promote the training of workers for service in support of agricultural and rural develop­ment in the regions defined in Clause 1.2 above, including the provision of oppor­tunities to obtain overseas experience;

(vi) Undertake, execute, manage or assist any charitable trusts or award funds which may lawfully be undertaken, executed, managed or assisted by the Association;

(vii) Cause to be written and printed or other­wise reproduced and circulated, gratuit­ously or otherwise, such papers, books, periodicals, pamphlets or other documents or films or recorded tapes (whether in electronic, audio or visual format) as shall further the said objects;

(viii) Purchase, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any property and any rights and privileges necessary for the promotion of the said objects and con­struct, maintain and alter any buildings or erections necessary for the work of the Association;

(ix) Make regulations for any property which may be so acquired;

(x) Subject to such consents as may be required by law, sell, let, mortgage, dispose of or turn to account all or any of the property or assets of the Association;

(xi) Subject to such consents as may be required by law, borrow or raise money for the said objects and accept gifts on such terms and on such security as shall be deemed to be necessary;

(xii) Establish branches in any country, or region, the purposes of which will conform with those of the parent association, and enable greater participation by members of those regions;

(xiii) Establish special interest groups within the association;

(xiv) Employ staff to work for the Association, and establish their terms of reference;

(xv) Act in such other ways as may support the objectives set out in Clause 1.2 of this Section.

<> 1.4 The Association shall:

(i)   Raise funds and invite and receive contributions from any person or persons whatsoever by way of subscriptions and otherwise provided that the Association shall not undertake permanent trading activities in raising funds for the said objects;

(ii)     Invest the moneys of the Association not immediately required for the said objects in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit, subject nevertheless to such conditions (if any) as may for the time being be imposed or required by law;

(iii) Do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the attainment of the said objects.

<> 

seCTION II: Membership of the Association

 

2.1 Categories of Membership

Membership is open to all qualified members of the public. There shall be five principal categories of individual membership of the Association, namely: Ordinary Members, Honorary Members, Fellows, Student Members and Associate Members The membership categories may be divided into sub-categories, reflecting the benefits options which the Association may from time to time introduce. Members shall receive all relevant papers, notices and reports issued by the Association. Only members may attend Annual and Extraordinary General Meetings. Non-members may however be invited, with or with­out payment of fees as determined by the Association, to attend all other functions or to participate in all other activities organised by the Association.  In addition there shall be Corporate Members.

<> 2.2 Individual Members 

Full membership of the Association shall be open to:

Persons 18 years old or over wherever they may reside. The Association will give equal opport­unities to all and will not discriminate on the grounds of race, age, sex, disability or religion.  However members should:

(i) hold appropriate degrees or higher national diplomas or other qualifications of institu­tions acceptable to the Executive Com­mittee of the Association, and have been engaged professionally in service related to agricultural and rural development in countries in the regions of the world specified in Clause 1.2 above for a signi­ficant period of time (normally exceeding one calendar year) or;

(ii) have been professionally engaged in work which is or has been directed to agricultural and rural development in the regions of the world specified in Clause 1.2 or;

(iii) are regarded by the Executive Committee of the Association as having professional experience equivalent to that specified in (i) or (ii) above

and have paid the subscription levied in respect of their grade of membership.

<> 2.3   Honorary Members

Persons who are judged by the Executive Committee of the Association to be rendering or to have rendered distinguished service to agricultural and rural development in the regions of the world specified in Clause 1.2 may be invited by the Executive Committee to become honorary members of the Association.

<> 2.4 Student Members

Persons who are registered students in a University or other teaching institution approved by the Executive Committee and who are following a full-time course intended to prepare them for professional service in agricultural or rural development in regions specified in Clause 1.2 are eligible to apply for student membership, irrespective of their nationality or normal place of residence.

<> 2.5 Associate Members

Members of other organisations, having similar objectives to those of the Association, may be offered Associate membership under specific financial arrangements as are agreed from time to time on a case by case basis. Overseas Branches of the Association will be given Associate member­ship. Members of Associated organisations are given the same status and rights as individual members of the Association.  

<> 2.6 Corporate Members

Corporate Membership to be open to national, international and local companies and organisa­tions and national, international and local voluntary organisations, whether corporate or unincorporated, which are interested in further­ing the said work and have paid the annual subscription. Each member organisation shall appoint one individual person to represent it and vote on its behalf at General Meetings of the Association. In the event of such individual person resigning or otherwise leaving an organisation, he or she shall forthwith cease to be a representative thereof. Each member organisa­tion may appoint a deputy to replace its appointed representative if the latter is unable to attend any particular meeting of the Association.

<> 2.7   Admission to membership 

Applications or proposals for membership shall be made to the Membership Secretary in such manner as may be prescribed by the Executive Committee. The names of persons accepted into membership shall be notified to the members of the Association.

<> 2.8   Termination of membership 

The Executive Committee may at its sole dis­cretion remove from membership any member or organisation whose activities are deemed to be contrary to the objectives of the Association provided that the individual member concerned or the individual representing such organisation (as the case may be) shall have the right to be heard by the said Executive Committee before a final decision is made.

  

SECTION III: Governance of the Association

<> 3.1 Government of the Association

(i) The Association shall be governed by an Annual General Meeting for which a month’s notice has to be given, at which all members are entitled to be present and to speak.  All members may vote in person, by correspondence or by proxy. The repre­sentative of a corporate member has a single vote.

(ii) The Annual General Meeting, chaired by the President or in his absence the Chairman, shall elect the Officers of the Association and the elected members of the Executive Committee and shall appoint an auditor or auditors. It shall receive and discuss the reports of the Executive Committee and the Officers and may approve, amend, refer back or reject any of these reports. It shall consider and determine proposed changes in the Constitution and it shall determine the policies and programmes of the Association.

(iii) If fewer than 20 ordinary and honorary members are present, the Annual General Meeting shall be postponed to a later occasion at which the quorum shall similarly be 20 ordinary and honorary members.

(iv) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the Executive Committee or at the request of not fewer than 50 ordinary and honorary members of the Association, made in writing to the General Secretary. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall have all the powers of an Annual General Meeting.

(v)  The Officers of the Association shall consist of President, Chairman, General Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer and Editor. In addition, other positions, which shall from time to time exist, will be given officer status (e.g., Chairman of the TAAF Committee, Assistant Editor, Webmaster, Directory Editor, BESO Coordinator, UK Forum Secretary, Specialist Group Convenors, Regional Group Convenors, Overseas Branch Coordinators and the Royal Show Organiser).

<>
3.2 The Executive Committee

3.2.1 The affairs of the Association shall be conducted between Annual or Extraordin­ary General Meetings, in accordance with the objectives set out in Clause 1.2, by an Executive Committee. The Executive Com­mittee shall consist of the Officers (see Clause 3.1.v) and six members, nominated and seconded from the ordinary and honorary members, and elected by those members voting in person, by corres­pondence or by proxy at an Annual or Extra­ordinary General Meeting of the Associa­tion, together with co-opted members as specified below. Notice of the vacancies, for which nominations are required, should be given not less than two months in advance of the meeting.

3.2.2 The President shall have the power to nominate up to four ordinary or honorary members of the Association to be co-opted to the Executive Committee, and selected so as to ensure that the Executive Committee includes members working in a wide range of civil society, such as teaching institu­tions, Non-Government organ­isations and private companies. Such co-opted members shall have the right to vote at meetings of the Executive Committee.

3.2.3 The Officers and elected and co-opted members of the Executive Committee shall serve for up to three years. They shall be elected or co-opted for such periods as will ensure that one-third of the members and co-opted members retire each year. They shall be eligible for re-election or co-option for further periods.

3.2.4 In the event of any post in the Executive Committee falling vacant for any reason during the year, the Executive Committee may fill the vacancy by nomination which will be effective until the following Annual General Meeting when election will be held in the normal manner.

  

SECTION IV: Finance

<> 4.1 All moneys raised by or on behalf of the Association and all its funds shall be applied to further the objects of the Association and for no other purpose provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable and proper remuneration to any employee of the Association or the repayment to members of the Committee or of any committee appointed under Clause 3.2.1 hereof of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. <>

4.2 The Honorary Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of the finances of the Association. <> 4.3 The accounts shall be audited at least once a year by the auditor or auditors appointed at the Annual General Meeting.

 

4.4 An audited statement of the accounts for the last financial year shall be submitted by the Committee to the Annual General Meeting as aforesaid.

 

4.5 A bank account or accounts shall be opened in the name of the Association with such bank as the Committee shall from time to time decide. The Chairman, Treasurer, Membership Secretary and the General Secretary of the Association are authorised to sign cheques on behalf of the Association.

 

4.6 Subscriptions:

4.6.1 With the exception of Honorary Members, subscriptions for all classes will be an amount determined at an Annual General Meeting. Honorary Members will be excluded from such payment.

4.6.2 Subscriptions shall be paid to the Treasurer in such manner as may be determined from time to time by the Annual General Meeting. A member who fails to pay his subscription by the due date shall be deemed, after due warning, to have term­inated his/her membership though this shall not remove his/her obligation to pay his/her subscription for the period during which he/she was deemed to be a member.

  

SECTION V: Dissolution

If the Committee by a simple majority decide at any time for any reason that it is necessary or advisable to dissolve the Association, it shall call a meeting of all members of the Association who have the power to vote, of which meeting not less than one month’s notice (stating the terms of the Resolution to be proposed thereat) shall be given. If such decision shall be confirmed by a simple majority of those present and voting at such meeting, the Committee shall have power to dispose of any assets held by or on behalf of the Association. Any assets remaining after the satisfaction of any proper debts and liabilities shall be given or transferred to such other charitable institution or institutions having objects similar to the objects of the Association as the Committee may determine. No profit or surplus will be distributed other than to a similar charity registered institution on winding up or dissolution of the Association.

  

SECTION VI: Notices

Any notice may be served by the General Secretary on any member either personally or on his/her appointed representative as the case may be, or by sending it through the post in a prepaid letter addressed to such member at his/her last known address, or by publication in the Newsletter.  Any letter or Newsletter so sent shall be deemed to have been received twenty-one days after the date of posting or, in the case of online members, twenty-one days after the Newsletter is put on the website.

<> 

SECTION VII: Interpretation

For the interpretation of this Constitution, the Interpretation Act, 1978 shall apply as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

<> 

SECTION V111: Alteration of this Constitution

Any alteration of this Constitution shall receive the assent of a simple majority of the ordinary and honorary members of the Association present and voting at a meeting specially called for the purpose provided that notice of any such alteration shall have been received by the General Secretary in writing not less than two months before the meeting at which the alteration is to be proposed. At least one month’s notice in writing of such a meeting, setting forth the terms of the alteration, shall be sent by the General Secretary to each member of the Association provided that no alteration shall be made which would have the effect of causing the Association to cease to be a Charity at law.

 

APPENDIX:

Responsibilities of Officials

of the Association

All officials are duty bound to promote the Association, recruit new members, attend Association functions whenever possible and represent the Association at functions and meetings convened by other bodies.

 

Responsibilities of the Executive Committee

To manage the day-to-day business of the Association between Annual General Meetings

To determine the policies of the Association

To ensure that the Association acts in accordance with its constitution, and complies with the requirements of the Charity Commission

To promote the establishment of Specialist Groups, Regional Branches and Overseas Branches

To ensure that the Association contributes to relevant consultations and discussions

 

President

To preside over the Annual General Meeting

To preside over any meetings of the Executive Committee at which he/she is present

 

Chairman 

To chair all meetings of the Executive Committee, unless these are presided over by the President

To attend the Annual General Meeting and present a report on the past year’s activities

To communicate with all Executive Committee members, encouraging them to address their responsibilities

 

General Secretary

To arrange and keep minutes at Executive Committee meetings (normally four a year)

To organise the Annual General meeting of the Association, and keep minutes

To organise a Biennial Meeting of the Association to cover a technical subject

To arrange the annual Ralph Melville Memorial Lecture

To send in the annual return to the Charity Commission

 

Membership Secretary 

To maintain the database of members

To register new members

To deal with members enquires

To publish a yearly list of members

To send mailing labels to the distributors four times a year for Newsletter mailings

To add payments made by members to the mailing list and each year in November send a letter to non-payers reminding them of the situation

Remove non-payers from the active list in December of each year

 

Webmaster  (A post that will be created now that we have online members)

To maintain a web page on behalf of the Association and ensure that the content is up dated as needed

To maintain contact with Net Benefit (who host the site) and Workwithus (on line payments) and ensure that payments are maintained

To ensure that the email links on the general information page are current

To keep the diary page up-to-date

To up-load on line versions of the TAA Newsletter and List of Members

To change passwords each year in February

To liaise with CABI to retain the link with the CABI database

To ensure that links on the page remain functional

 

Treasurer

To manage the Association’s financial affairs - including maintaining its bank accounts

To produce the annual statement of accounts, including an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet

To have the accounts audited

To present the accounts for approval by the Annual General Meeting

To produce an annual budget for approval by the Executive Committee, and update the Executive Committee on the financial position at all Executive Committee meetings

 

Editor Newsletter  (together with the assistant editor)

To be responsible for receiving contributions for the quarterly Newsletter, and preparing the material for publication

To write, or arrange to have written, an editorial for each issue of the Newsletter 

To submit the Newsletter material to the Typesetter, and monitor the process of printing, distribution and ensuring that a copy is posted on the website

To report to the Executive Committee and the membership at the Annual General Meeting

 

Local Organisers

To obtain a database of local members from the Membership Secretary

To organise at least two local meetings a year

To ensure that a report on these meetings is forwarded to the Editor of the Newsletter

To inform both the Editor and the Webmaster of details of planned events

To account to the Treasurer for any funds made available for the running of the local branch

 

Convenors of Specialist Groups

To keep a list of members of the group and inform the Membership Secretary who they are

To organise at least two meetings of the group each year (these can be in association with regional meetings)

To develop the group’s activities in the interest of the members, including links with other organisations having similar interests (e.g., the Agri-Business group links with BCCB)

To encourage the group to engage in relevant debates, including lobbying to protect and further the interests of the group

 

TAAF Chairman

To maintain an active TAAF Committee and organise its meetings

To be responsible for the fund-raising activities of TAAF

By chairing the TAAF committee, receive applications for awards, make appropriate awards, and inform the Association’s treasurer

To maintain contact with present and past Awardees, and encourage them to continue their membership of the Association

To arrange meetings, or other mechanisms such as TAAFNET, in the interest of awardees and ex-awardees, and advise the Executive Committee in respect of activities aimed at meeting their needs.

 

Other members of the Executive Committee

To attend Executive Committee meetings

To participate in Association activities.

 

Overseas Branch Coordinators

To maintain a list of the members of the Branch and keep the Membership Secretary informed

To organise activities of the Branch

To maintain bank account(s)

To receive and account for all subventions given to the branch by the Association, and to remit to the Association such dues as agreed in the constitution of the Branch

To be responsible for the local distribution of  Newsletter

To send the Newsletter Editor material for publication

 

BESO Coordinator

To maintain links with BESO and assist with the identification of Association members willing to work for BESO

To keep the Executive Committee informed of BESO activities

 

Royal Show Organiser

To organise the Association’s participation in the annual Royal Agriculture Show, including the content of the Association’s stand

To arrange for Association members to staff the stand at all times.

 

Directory Editor

To maintain the On-line Directory of CVs

To publicise and up-date the Directory

To manage registration of members

To coordinate the activities of the Directory Administrator

To liaise with the Webmaster for links with the TAA web site