15th Commission on Phytosanitary Measures in March/April
- 17/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
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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… +News digest: Brexit
- 16/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News, Pacific
Ghana–UK trade agreement Ghana and the United Kingdom signed a trade agreement worth $1.6 billion on 2 March (Gov.uk, 2 March; Africanews, 3 March), and the legislation came into force on 5 March. The renewed Continuity Agreement will allow duty-free, quota-free access for Ghana to the UK market, and preferential tariff reductions for UK exporters to the Ghanaian market. It means Ghanaian products such as bananas, tinned tuna and cocoa can be traded to Britain without tariffs. The UK Global… +APROTELF workshop
- 15/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Togo
A workshop of the Association of Producers, Processors and Exporters of Vegetables and Fruits of Togo (APROTELF), with about 30 participants, was held on 15 March in Lomé. This workshop, which was part of the revitalisation of APROTELF, aimed to learn about the needs and expectations of companies. Participants discussed the actions needed to support the association to offer appropriate and useful services to its members, while working effectively to promote and defend the interests of the fruit and vegetable… +Training on traceability for FENACOPAB
- 12/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Benin, News
Staff of the National Federation of Village Pineapple Producers Cooperatives of Benin (FENACOPAB) will receive COLEACP training on traceability and good hygiene practices. On completion of this training, participants will be able to implement a traceability system that is adapted to the local context of FENACOPAB, and that conforms with GLOBALG.A.P. requirements. This support is carried out within the framework of COLEACP’s Fit For Market programme. FENACOPAB is the Beninese national umbrella organisation for pineapple producers’ cooperatives and agricultural service… +COLEACP support to agricultural private sector in Pacific
- 11/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Pacific
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… +IPM support – NIANDA AGRICULTURE AND TRADING COMPANY (Sierra Leone)
- 11/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Sierra Leone
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… +Dominican Republic: JAD-COLEACP webinar 3 on tools and partners for exporting to Europe
- 11/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Caribbean, News
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… +Team Europe partners with Equity Bank to support Kenyan business and agriculture amid Covid-19
- 10/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Kenya, News
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… +Support for NPPOs: Banana fusarium wilt TR4 in West Africa
- 10/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, News, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
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… +