News digest: Agri-food markets and production
- 20/09/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Apples, Avocados, Bananas, Berries, Caribbean, Cherries, Citrus fruits, Ginger, Mangoes, News, Onions, Pacific, Papayas, Pineapples, Tomatoes, Watermelons
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AFRICA Réunion Island vanilla gets EU Protected Geographical Indication Vanilla from Réunion Island has just been registered by the European Commission in the register of Protected Geographical Indications (PGI). Its reputation is based on its unique aromatic bouquet, the result of the plant’s perfect acclimatisation on the volcanic slopes of the east of the island and the know-how developed by the people of Reunion. Source: Commodafrica, 30 August 2021 Opportunities for Ethiopian avocados “Ethiopia has huge potential in avocados” says… +Caribbean: Strategic review of the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency
- 17/09/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Caribbean, News
With the support of COLEACP, the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) is undergoing significant changes to ensure that it fulfils its mandate and maximises the value it offers to member countries. CAHFSA’s role is particularly important in the current context of a global pandemic; the increasing importance of non-tariff barriers and agricultural nationalism; threats to food security; and the need to rapidly diversify and expand exports from the Caribbean region. For CAHFSA to contribute effectively to addressing… +Getting the most out of trade fairs: New training offer and publications
- 16/09/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
One of the main challenges for ACP exporters is finding the right buyers. Many European businesses use trade fairs to manage their relations and show their presence on the market, so they are ideal places to meet with various importers. They also offer great opportunities to find information on your target market(s) and present your company directly to your potential customers. You will probably find a large concentration of relevant prospects in one place. But participating in trade shows will… +Bringing together NPPOs throughout the ACP regions
- 15/09/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
During the summer COLEACP has continued to offer group capacity building for ACP National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs), providing platforms for representatives of NPPOs to meet one another and share their experiences. Pest surveillance e-learning now in French Following the success of the English version, the first French training session on pest surveillance took place in June on COLEACP’s e-learning platform, followed by a further session in August. Together they reached 33 participants including representatives of the NPPOs of seven… +Zimbabwe: Pineapple smallholders achieve organic certification
- 10/09/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, News, Zimbabwe
“The Trust is excited, ZimTrade is thrilled, GreenStone Foods is over the moon whilst COLEACP is looking at building on this success to help the Trust grow. What a journey!” William Zirebwa, COLEACP National Relay Zimbabwe In August 2021, 45 smallholder pineapple farmers in Rusitu Valley, Chipinge, members of the Rusitu Valley Fruit Growers and Marketing Trust (RVFGMT), received a major boost when they achieved organic certification of their pineapples by Ecocert (The Herald, 27 August). The attainment of… +Senegal: Setting up commercial services within professional organisations – pilot training
- 03/09/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Senegal
COLEACP has begun its first sessions of pilot training on implementing a commercial service within a professional organisation. This training, carried out in collaboration with the National Agency for Agricultural and Rural Consultancy – Niayes Area Directorate (ANCAR Thiès), is aimed at producers in the market gardening sector operating on the local informal market. During the training a COLEACP expert, Ms Jeanne Marie SARR, worked with a producer group of Yade in the Niayes region, alongside the ANCAR agent who… +EU MRL changes for 83 PPPs in 2021
- 26/08/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cook Islands, Côte d'Ivoire, Country, Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, News, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Suriname, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Key points Since the start of 2021, European Union (EU) maximum residue level (MRL) changes concerned 83 plant protection products (PPPs; 59 in 2020). These changes refer to modifications compared to the previous regulation, and can be either an increase or lowering of the MRLs for certain foods.COLEACP identified 27 key substances used in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) horticulture that are affected by these changes. For 10 of the substances (ametoctradin, bupirimate, chlorothalonil, dimethoate, ethoprophos, myclobutanil, propiconazole, pyraclostrobin spinetoram,… +Public-private cooperation in risk management
- 06/08/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, News
In July Dr Chagema Kedera, COLEACP Coordinator for the New Export Trade (NExT) Programme in Kenya, presented a video on “Public-private cooperation in risk management” at a Workshop on Risk Assessment, Risk Management, and Risk Communication hosted by the World Trade Organization Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. He discusses the four key aspects of risk management – governance, operational processes, capacity, and communication – through the example of Kenya’s experience. For successful risk management, close interaction between public and… +Just published: COLEACP Annual Report 2020
- 05/08/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
The Annual Report 2020 of COLEACP and its programmes is now online here. The report focuses on the digitalisation of our activities. In 2020 Covid-19 made our daily lives more fragile – but also accelerated our activities, our local anchoring, and our use of digital tools. We have continued to deliver the planned support to our partners across the OACPS countries by helping to mitigate the negative impacts of Covid-19 on their production and marketing of horticultural products. “The Covid-19… +IFOAM Survey on Pesticide Residues
- 03/08/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
Dear Partners COLEACP is contacting you with details and links to a survey on pesticide residues in organic products that is being conducted by IFOAM Organic Europe and FiBL. Their work addresses an issue that, as you know, creates serious challenges for the organic sector. The results will benefit the sector as a whole and we strongly urge you to take part. Background IFOAM Organic Europe and FiBL are currently working on the project: ‘Developing Organic: Pesticide use and contamination’… +