News digest: Agri-food markets and production
- 18/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Bananas, Benin, Burkina Faso, Caribbean, China, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, News, Pacific, Spain, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
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Global Organic farming is still gaining ground Global organic agriculture is progressing in small steps again in 2019, with a 1.6% increase in the global surface area – an additional 1.1 million hectares (ha) – to 72.3 million ha (including land under conversion), with Oceania in the lead, in fact Australia (nearly 50%), followed by Europe (23%) and Latin America (11%) (Commodafrica, 3 March). But compared to the world’s agricultural surface area, the result is still modest (1.5%). The countries… +News digest: Policy
- 18/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
Global New Director-General of World Trade Organization Nigerian Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO, took office on 1 March (WTO News, 5 March). Among her first actions were meetings with the Group of Least Developed Countries as well as the Friends of the System, an alliance of small and mid-sized members from different regions and development levels that are committed to a well-functioning multilateral trading system. A top priority will be to… +Kenya: Mango farmers hope to resume lucrative European markets in September
- 18/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Kenya
Kenyan mango stakeholders have agreed on September 2021 as the tentative month for resumption of exports to the EU after an 8-year break. The emergence of the fruit fly in Kenya led to numerous interceptions of mango consignments by the EU between 2010 and 2014. As a result, Kenya imposed a temporary self-export ban to protect the market and institute acceptable pest management measures. After the ban, the government, among other stakeholders, started pursuing measures to help in reducing the… +PAFO–COLEACP four-week Online trainings in April – crop protection and safe use of pesticides
- 18/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, News
PAFO (the Pan-African Farmers’ Organization) and COLEACP are collaborating on online trainings on ‘Crop protection and safe use of pesticides’, to be held over four weeks in April. The E-trainings are designed for farmers, technical staff, agronomists and extension workers (who must be PAFO members), who want to learn about the principles and skills relating to integrated crop protection and safe pesticide use. There will be one two-hour webinar each week during April, with French and English versions running in… +Focusing on young people
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: News, Togo
COLEACP’S INCUBATOR FOR FUTURE TECHNICAL MANAGERS IN HORTICULTURAL COMPANIES IN TOGO In 2020, COLEACP started a new project in Togo – an incubator for horticultural technical managers. The project aims to help fill the gap in qualified technical staff on the Togolese job market (quality managers; packaging and production managers). This is achieved by training young graduates to enable them to become quickly operational for horticultural companies, through combining technical training and practical work experience in companies. The project was… +Training in the new Rapid SPS Assessment Tool (R-SAT)
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
Two online R-SAT training sessions took place in February and early March, each for nine experts – in English for participants from the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe; and in French for experts from Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Senegal and Togo. Experts’ feedback will inform the final version of the tool, and the training will be followed by the use of R-SAT in… +Fight against unfair trading practices
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: News
For over 10 years, COLEACP has been part of a coalition of organisations, including Oxfam, the Fair Trade Advocacy Office and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM-EU), lobbying the EU to tackle unfair trading practices (UTPs) in agricultural supply chains. Smaller suppliers are particularly vulnerable to unfair practices such as last-minute cancellation of orders and late payments. In April 2019 this lobbying activity finally bore fruit and the groundbreaking EU Directive 2019/633 on Unfair Trading Practices in Business… +COLEACP-CABA agreement
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Caribbean, News
COLEACP and the Caribbean Agri-business Association (CABA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in support of the SMEs and businesses operating in the agri-food sector in the Caribbean. The joint COLEACP-CABA action plan includes the following areas of cooperation, among others: Industry and market intelligence – information on international, regional and national policies and regulations impacting private sector operators, and joint information and communication products Business support – technical assistance to business proposals to improve production, access markets,… +15th Commission on Phytosanitary Measures in March/April
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
The 15th Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-15) will be held on 16 and 18 March, and on 1 April 2021, in virtual format. The agenda includes standard-setting, capacity-building, communication, ePhyto, and the CPM recommendations. These agenda items are of critical importance to the functioning of National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs), and COLEACP encourages the participation of ACP countries. For contracting parties to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), registration is via the FAO Members Gateway. Those who… +Kenya: Flamingo Horticulture working towards GRASP option 2 for its outgrowers
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Kenya
(Picture taken in 2019 before the Covid 19 pandemic.) At the end of 2020, COLEACP worked with Flamingo Horticulture Kenya Ltd, a large grower with various production sites (vegetables and flowers). A training session and pre-audit followed on from COLEACP’s previous activities with Flamingo, and should pave the way for the company’s successful social audit of over 400 smallholder growers. Throughout 2019, COLEACP supported the company with an assessment of GlobalG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practices (GRASP) compliance at outgrower… +