AGRINFO launches first mission to Guatemala
- 08/06/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
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An important step in strengthening engagement with key agrifood stakeholders across Latin America As part of its 2026 regional outreach strategy, AGRINFO selected one country in each region for closer collaboration. In Latin America, Guatemala was chosen due to the concentration of its agricultural exports to the European Union, particularly in the palm oil sector. The mission provided a valuable space for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and stakeholder engagement. The event held on 26 May, “Tools to Export to the EU… +Business plans in agriculture: 50 entrepreneurs trained to make their ventures bankable
- 08/06/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
In brief From 19 January to 6 February 2026, COLEAD ran a three-week training course introducing business plans in the agricultural sector. It was delivered under the Fit for Market Plus (FFM+) programme. Around fifty participants — agri-MSMEs, cooperative managers and consultants — from 19 partner countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The goal: turning hands-on expertise and market knowledge into a bankable business plan. A concrete lever to ease access to finance for horticultural businesses. Why this… +Yearly review 2025
- 29/05/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
EU and GB pesticide approval changes in 2025 Review of EU and GB pesticide approval changes during 2025 During 2025, the European Commission (EC) published 97 changes to plant protection product (PPP) approvals within the European Union (EU). These include 43 changes concerning substances that are of importance for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) horticulture. Great Britain (GB) has published 55 changes to PPP approvals involving 23 changes concerning substances that are of importance for ACP horticulture. How will ACP… +Seafood 2026 in Barcelona: engaging with key sector stakeholders
- 04/05/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
COLEAD recently participated, through the AGRINFO programme, in Seafood Expo Global (SEG26) in Barcelona, the world’s largest trade event dedicated to seafood. This flagship event brings together the full spectrum of stakeholders across the fisheries and aquaculture value chain — companies, exporters, buyers, institutions and professional organizations’. This was an important opportunity to further strengthen the programme’s network with key players in the seafood sector. Meetings were held with exporters, competent authorities, and export promotion bodies, as well as European… +Dominican Republic: strengthening the sanitary framework to support agri-food safety and trade
- 04/05/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
As part of the Sanidad e Innovación Agropecuaria (SIA) project, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the benefit of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, COLEAD has supported the development of a comprehensive set of legislative and strategic documents aimed at modernising the country’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) system. This work includes a new sanitary law, its implementing regulations, and a national SPS policy. Together, these instruments are designed to establish a legal and institutional framework… +Ethiopia: a key milestone reached with the completion of the horticultural sector bottleneck study under the MAHEBER programme
- 04/05/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
The MAHEBER programme has reached a major milestone in its ambition to transform Ethiopia’s horticultural sector with the completion of a comprehensive study identifying the structural constraints limiting its development. Launched in September 2025, the study provides an in-depth analysis of Ethiopia’s horticultural value chain. It adopts a systemic approach, covering the entire ecosystem — from production to market access — to better understand the dynamics shaping the sector’s performance. The analysis examines the policy and regulatory environment, the roles… +Growing Ghana: a new AgriFI–COLEAD technical assistance to support agricultural innovation
- 25/03/2026
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
Under the AgriFI Country Window Ghana facility, COLEAD is implementing a new technical assistance initiative in support of Complete Farmer, a Ghanaian Agritech innovator. Delivered on behalf of EDFI Management Company, this support aims to strengthen and structure the company’s outgrower model to foster sustainable and inclusive growth. COLEAD’s assistance will focus on enhancing farmer support systems and training mechanisms, benefiting more than 12,500 smallholder farmers and 163 commercial farmers. This intervention builds on AgriFI’s USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.2… +Towards better protection against unfair trading practices: Call on the European Parliament to regulate unfair trading practices and protect producers in third countries
- 09/09/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
On 15 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) adopted a significant report aimed at strengthening the cooperation of enforcement authorities responsible for implementing the European directive on unfair trading practices (UTPs) within the agri-food supply chain. COLEAD and the Fair-Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) welcome this progress, which marks a decisive step towards closing existing gaps and ensuring that every farmer and small agri-food supplier, whether in the EU or not, can benefit from better protection… +COLEAD eLearning: new training pathways to strengthen the skills of 36,000 platform users
- 09/09/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
COLEAD’s eLearning platform continues to grow as part of the FFM+ programme, offering new self-paced training pathways for professionals in the agri-food sector. Since 2024, four additional pathways comprising five courses have been added to the training offer. Business plan (available in English and French since June 2024) Financial planning (available in English since June 2024 and in French by the end of 2025); Fruit and vegetable preservation, Processing and Packaging (already available in French and due to be available… +COLEAD Board and General Assembly: 2024 annual report approved, on course for 2030!
- 15/07/2025
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News
On 25 June, COLEAD held its Board of Directors and General Assembly in a hybrid format, bringing together almost 200 members who joined the event online through national members’ meetings. Around twenty countries were represented. This level of participation highlights the network’s increasing vitality and the value placed on direct dialogue between members, teams, and partners. During the meeting, members approved the 2024 annual report and financial accounts. The meeting also provided an opportunity to review progress towards the five… +