On March 11, COLEACP invited horticultural stakeholders from the Pacific region’s private sector to participate in an online workshop. The participants introduced themselves, and COLEACP presented its programmes and activities, with a focus on what is planned in the Pacific in the coming weeks and months. Discussions included support for accessing markets; how to set up a sustainable commercial agriculture business model for exports to cover losses from tourism; how to obtain organic certification for products; and the use of… +
NIANDA AGRICULTURE AND TRADING has benefited from COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme support to analyse its current pest management system. COLEACP expert Mr Emmanuel Owusu carried out an overview of pest and disease status, and suggested solutions for the company to improve its integrated pest management.
NIANDA is a Sierra Leonean company with a focus on fruit and vegetables (mangoes, passion fruit, okra, pepper, eggplant, etc.) sold on the local and export markets (fresh and frozen). Founded in 2011, the… +
COLEACP is collaborating with the Dominican Agroenterprise Board (Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana, JAD) to present a webinar series on market access for processed products in the pineapple, mango and avocado sectors. The webinars are part of the CALIFRUP project, “Quality enhancement for the development of MSMEs in the processed fruit value chain”.
The third webinar, on 10 March, emphasised the importance for exporters and processor of figuring out from the start the type of market they want to conquer. This strategy… +
The European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), working together as Team Europe, are providing €120 million (KES 15.8 billion) of new support for Equity Bank to enhance financing for Kenyan companies most impacted by the Covid-19 crisis (European Commission press release, 3 March).
The financing package will support access to finance under appropriate conditions for Kenyan SMEs, including in the agriculture sector, through €100 million loans from the EIB to Equity Bank and €20 million of EU… +
On 9 March, COLEACP and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a webinar with the FAO-led World Banana Forum: “Banana fusarium wilt TR4 – an overview of distribution and impact, and the essential biosecurity measures needed for West Africa”. TR4 is an aggressive strain of banana fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense tropical race 4), one of only six strains that attack Cavendish bananas. If unchecked, TR4 can wipe out an entire plantation.
The meeting gave an… +
For International Women’s Day 2021, COLEACP is celebrating women’s achievements in Kenyan horticulture. Women entrepreneurs – as farm owners, input suppliers, service delivery enterprises, and running processing and export businesses – contribute to local, national and global economies, with significant impact on poverty reduction, job creation and the well-being of rural communities and society as a whole.
PURITY NAISHO is a founding director of Interveg Exports EPZ Limited, a family-owned business. She is also the current vice chair of the… +
Celebrate with PAFO and COLEACP women innovations in the agrifood sector!
Women still face too many challenges in finding jobs in the formal economy or starting and developing businesses, due to insufficient conducive policies and normslow rates of land ownership, as well as access and control over resources and limited access to credit.
However, women are a significant entrepreneurial force as owners of farms, input supply stores, service delivery businesses, and processing and export firms whose contributions to local, national,… +
As part of COLEACP’s STDF-funded project to improve the SPS quality of Penja pepper in Cameroon to facilitate access to international markets, the project’s national coordinator has been organising last week awareness-raising meetings in the different production basins. These meetings aimed to inform the different actors (producers, nursery, etc.) about past and future activities. Many training sessions are planned to train these operators on good SPS practices for the production and processing of Penja pepper. Awareness-raising sessions are organised throughout… +
AGROSEAL LTD is currently receiving COLEACP Fit For Market support to implement a quality management system that complies with national and international requirements. This collaboration includes capacity building and support for the Agroseal team to develop a procedures manual. Agroseal is a Ghanaian agricultural trading company with a focus on fresh fruits and vegetables (pineapple, orange, okra, mango, etc.), which aims to empower smallholder farmers through innovation and technology to gain reliable access to higher-end markets, increasing incomes and reducing… +
Agricado Farms’ 1-year action plan leads to GLOBALG.A.P. certification
A year’s effort by the Agricado Farms team in collaboration with COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme has resulted in the company’s achievement of GLOBALG.A.P. certification (Option 1 – Single Producer Certification). Confirmed following an audit in January 2021, this certification will have a major positive effect on the company’s ability to access international high-end markets.
Agricado Farms Uganda Ltd is a new fresh fruit and vegetable company located in Kampala, Uganda.… +
During 2020, Kenyan SME Vert Limited received support from COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme to update its policies towards social compliance.
Vert Limited is a Kenya-based, indigenous company specialising in growing and exporting fresh produce, targeted specifically at the European market. The company sells fine vegetables on the export market and has ventured into mango puree and dried mango.
Social compliance has become an important sustainability parameter for consumers. Proof of social welfare in the form of certification has been… +
A diagnostic study on inspection and control procedures for the entry, sale and use of pesticides is currently under way in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
Implemented under COLEACP’s Fit for Market SPS programme, the study was initiated by a request from CEMAC’s Comité Inter-Etats des Pesticides de l’Afrique Centrale (CPAC), which coordinates the management of pesticides within CEMAC.
The study will involve defining an action plan for the six CEMAC States, which should contribute to… +
The UK Government has provided these useful tools to help importers and exporters negotiate the steps for importing from, and re-exporting UK goods to the European Union: Flowchart diagram (pdf)
Step-by-step process
Rules of Origin presentation form: Defra_EU_Rules_of_Origin_Business_Guidance_Presentation.pdf (mcusercontent.com)
Rules of Origin business guidance documents: Defra_EU_Rules_of_Origin_Business_Guidance.pdf (mcusercontent.com)
Sector specific guidance focused on the most relevant Rules of Origin articles and with industry specific examples: EU_RoO_Sector_Guidance_All_Sectors.pdf (mcusercontent.com)… +
COLEACP has been providing training in performance management, effective communication and lean management principles for the senior managers of AAA Growers, one of Kenya’s leading exporters of premium and prepared vegetables and the country’s largest commercial grower and exporter of chillies.
“For a firm, nothing can give more satisfaction than seeing your customers delighted, which can be due to the satisfaction they derive from the product or the customer service. To achieve this, the issues and concerns of the customers… +
In collaboration with the Dominican Agroenterprise Board (Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana, JAD), COLEACP is organising a series of webinars on market access for processed products in the pineapple, mango and avocado sectors. These are part of the CALIFRUP project “Quality enhancement for the development of MSMEs in the processed fruit value chain”, which aims to support the strategy of value chain development and, specifically, to strengthen the processed fruit value chain.
The second webinar, on 17 February, focused on regulatory and… +
GLOBAL
UNEP Adaptation Gap Report focuses on nature-based solutions
Capping a year that was one of the three warmest on record, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released its fifth Adaptation Gap Report, finding that although many nations have advanced in adaptation planning, developing countries face a significant gap in adaptation finance (IISD, 25 January). The report places special focus on nature-based solutions that promote protection, sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems. It finds that nature-based solutions must receive significantly… +
Research & Innovation activities at COLEACP aim to ensure that solutions are available to farmers to tackle priority pests and diseases
Challenges following EU ban on PPPs
Every year, the use of many plant protection products (PPPs) is affected by regulatory changes – that is, changes in approvals and Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). This has a direct impact on producers who often must change production methods (good agricultural practices – GAP) to comply with the new rules. Any non-compliances can… +
GLOBAL
Overview: Global papaya market
The situation in the global papaya market is quite stable at the moment (Fresh Plaza, 12 February). But the lack of air cargo capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the supply and price levels of papayas, which are significantly more expensive than in other years.
Overview: Global onion market
The global onion market is stable at the moment. Last year’s harvest was good in Europe and North America, but… +
Four partners building a Horticulture Practical Training Programme
COLEACP is working with the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA), the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), and the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) towards an accredited Horticulture Practical Training Programme in Tanzania.
A recent working meeting was held for the partnership members and the team of COLEACP experts. During the early months of 2021 this COLEACP team will provide direct support for the mapping/needs assessment needed to define and establish… +
In December 2020, extension staff of Flamingo Horticulture Kenya Ltd, a large grower with various production sites (vegetables and flowers), participated in COLEACP training to assist the company’s outgrowers with book keeping and cost-benefit calculations. This was the second step in a series to introduce the concept to the small-scale outgrowers, which began in 2019. The training took place at the production areas in Nanyuki, Kenya, while Covid-19 measures were in place and strictly adhered to throughout the training.
“This… +
Ghana finalises post-Brexit trade agreement with UK – but tariffs continue
Ghana and the UK have finalised negotiations on a new Interim Ghana-UK Trade Partnership Agreement (Ghana-UK Joint Statement, 4 February). The agreement will enter into effect following the completion of relevant internal procedures required in both Ghana and the UK. But while trade negotiations have now been finalised, duty-free access has still not been restored for Ghanaian exports to the UK, and Ghanaian exporters continue to pay import tariffs… +
The second session of the Pan African Farmers Organization (PAFO)-COLEACP Innovation Series, held on 21 January, focused on ‘Grow local: Conquering local markets’.
You can view the whole session in French and English.
07:03 Jeremy KNOPS, General Delegate, COLEACP
17:41 Affiong WILLIAMS, Founder & CEO, Reelfruit, Nigeria
28:29 Catherine KROBO EDUSEI, Managing Director, Eden Tree Limited, Ghana
40:58 Komi AGBOKOU, President and Founder, Choco Togo
56:27 Bertille Guèdègbé MARCOS, Les Jus Tillou, Benin
01:09:29 Escipión OLIVEIRA GOMEZ, Assistant Secretary-General, Dept… +
Extension staff of Interveg, Kenya are participating in training on book keeping and cost-benefit calculations. Interveg works with French bean outgrowers, and through this training extension staff will be better equipped to guide these farmers on how to use their land and resources as a business. The training is provided as part of COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme.
The training will provide Interveg’s extension staff with the necessary background to coach farmers, with practical examples of cost-benefit analysis and record-keeping… +
COLEACP’s Field Training Workshop method – training for Dangote Farms
At the end of January, COLEACP facilitated training on crop protection, safe use of pesticides and the Field Training Worksohp method for Dangote Farms Limited in Nigeria. The company grows tomatoes with over 5,000 smallholders in the area around Kano, processing the crop into tomato paste for the domestic market.
The extension staff who took part in the training are planning to make use of the skills they acquired to… +