During the opening of the Presidential dialogue at the ACP Business Summit ahead of the 9th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government — in the presence of His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya State House Kenya and Mr. Tony Elumelu, Chairman, United Bank for Africa and founder, Tonyelumelufoundation, Dr Patrick Ignatius Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States, paid tribute to the results achieved since 2001 for the Kenyan horticultural industry through Coleacp… +

The 9th Summit of ACP Heads of State in Nairobi focuses on the theme “A transformed ACP : Committed to Multilateralism”. The president of State House Kenya is taking this opportunity to highlight a few priorities : • The number 1 resource available to ACP countries is people! “Growing people” though capacity building must be at the heart of any strategy. • Industrialisation of agriculture to open new markets, integration of small farmers into national and regional markets, adding value… +

As part of its Fit For Market programme, COLEACP organised group training on organic agriculture over 3 days in Ijebu Ode (#Nigeria). Participants learned about the main principles of organic agriculture, and how it presents both advantages and constraints for companies. The classes were very interactive, and the training offered a space for networking opportunities and exchange of business information. A field visit to Tinwot Organic Farm enabled participants to see organic production at first hand.… +

In Luanda, COLEACP participated in a workshop on the establishment of agro-industries, organised by Consórcio Rede Camponesa (CRC, Consortium of Farmer Networks). We took the opportunity to present our strategy to support the horticultural sector and strengthen the capacity of producers, improving their connection to national, regional and international fruit and vegetable markets.… +

As part of its Fit for Market programme, COLEACP organised training in Ghana for technical and extension staff, to develop their capacity to pass on good practices in hygiene, traceability, crop protection and safe use of pesticides to workers and/or small-scale producers. Trainees were those responsible for production, pest control methods and phytosanitary treatments, as well as quality traceability managers and packaging managers of horticultural companies. Participants built on previous COLEACP training on Crop Protection and Safe Use of Pesticides… +

COLEACP organised a training in Zimbabwe on its Field Training Workshop method. The method, designed in a simple and imaginative way around specific topics, helps trainees understand the good practices they need to employ in production and processing to ensure their produce complies with standards and regulatory requirements. The trainees were mainly technical and extension staff of Zimbabwean horticultural companies. Participants in Field Training Workshops can learn how to sensitize workers and small-scale producers about good hygiene practices, traceability, crop… +

COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme has helped Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited to start exporting sweet potatoes to the Netherlands. The company is a producer and processor of food crops, including sweet potatoes, a developing sector in Ghana. With COLEACP’s support, Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited has put in place a quality management system to ensure a traceable and quality product.… +

Lucy Agricultural Development plc in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has recently received support with COLEACP’s Sustainability Self-Assessment System. As part of its Fit For Market programme, COLEACP coaches beneficiaries the first time they fill out the online system – when they come to update, they will complete it themselves.… +

In October 2019 COLEACP organised group training on “Crop Protection and Safe Use of Pesticides” in Arusha, for technical staff and extensionists of Tanzanian companies and cooperatives. While in Tanzania our experts held fruitful discussions with representatives of the agricultural sector, including Mr Katemani, Ms Lightness Christopher Muro and Ms Dorah John Amuli from the Plant Health Services; and Mrs Shukrani Mdegela from the Wood Africa Foundation.… +

After the success of the “Hygiene and traceability” training in may, COLEACP organized a 4 days training on “Food safety management”, from 2d to 5th September in #Zimbabwe. This training, rich in sharing and discovery, was a great success both on a human and intellectual level.… +