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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.… +

Another 4-day collective training was organized in #Lagos on “Food Safety Management”. It was addressed to technical staff of Nigerian exporting companies and cooperatives. Participants have gained knowledge on principles and regulations linked to food safety. EU regulations, as well as quality and private standards were introduced. [FORMATION] À Lagos, une formation collective de 4 jours a été organisée en août sur ‘’la gestion de la sécurité sanitaire des aliments’’. Cette formation à l’attention du personnel technique des entreprises et… +

In Arusha in September 2019, COLEACP held a 3-day group training course, “Guarantee the commercial quality of export avocado: quality criteria and good practices for harvest and post-harvest handling”. Participants reinforced their knowledges on best practices in setting up an orchard, growing avocado, and best practices for the farm, packhouse and logistics. Field visits to a large avocado farm, a packhouse and a smallholder avocado farm demonstrated best harvest and post-harvest practices, with a focus on fruit sampling and harvesting,… +

The 19th September 2019, COLEACP will held an industry stakeholder workshop in Nairobi. On this occasion, COLEACP will provide an update of support activities conducted in Kenya since the start of its “Fit for Market” programmes in 2016-2017, as well as information on a potential new intervention programme through the EU Delegation to be designed specifically for the Kenyan horticultural industry. It will thus be a strategic moment in time to ensure that any current and future support activities are… +

COLEACP in Ghana: Sweet potato value chain – support to a new professional organisation The orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) value chain is currently growing rapidly in Ghana, due to both the product’s high nutritional value and growing interest on the international market. A meeting concerning support for the strategic development of the Sweet Potato Value Chain Association (SPVCA) took place in Accra, Ghana at the end of July 2019. This support, provided by COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme,* aims to… +

COLEACP is working to strengthen the gender dimension of our programme activities in recognition of the key position played by women in the ACP fruit and vegetable sector. Golden Exotics kindly hosted a visit by Morag Webb (Special advisor at COLEACP) to their farm and packing facilities. Of particular interest were: • The Sexual Harassment Policy • The BOHESI project, and specific gender-based risk assessments • Adaptations made to working practices and infrastructure to make employment in the banana industry… +

It is the Ghana Mango Week (https://www.ghanamangoweek.com/) in Accra. We were invited to make a presentation on the new European plant health regulation. A workshop was also organised to start the dialogue between public and private stakeholders from the mango industry in order to start the preparation of the national dossier (to be sent to the European Union) outlining the treatments applied and explaining the measures in place to ensure that exported mango is free from fruit fly. This dossier… +

Our training “Good hygiene practices and traceability principles” was a great success thanks to everyone and especially to our two trainers Anna and Saheed and also to Sola for the logistical support. This 4-day training, which took place in Nigeria, will be followed by a second session dedicated to “Health Quality Management”.… +

We are organising a workshop in Gambia with key private and public stakeholders from the horticulture industry to define an action plan to improve the national SPS system. This workshop follows a request for support from the Fit For Market SPS Programme submitted by the Gambian Plant Protection Services.… +