News Digest: Agri-food Markets, Production and Trade
- 11/04/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
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IMPACTS OF WAR IN UKRAINE EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine The EU has responded to Russia’s military attack against Ukraine by adopting a comprehensive and robust package of restrictive sanctions. The sanctions are listed here. Source: European Commission, 2022 Russian invasion causes South African citrus issues South Africa’s Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) says it is working closely with exporters, government and other stakeholders across the value chain to mitigate the impact that the Russian invasion of… +News digest: Agri-food Systems and Sustainability
- 08/04/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
Climate IPCC issues bleakest warning yet on climate breakdown The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published its latest report on the state of the climate crisis. It states that climate breakdown is accelerating rapidly and many of the impacts will be more severe than predicted. Everywhere is affected, with no inhabited region escaping dire impacts from rising temperatures and increasingly extreme weather. About half the global population – between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people – live in areas… +Ghana: Training for Food Bridge entrepreneurs on good agricultural practices
- 28/02/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Ghana, News
In January a training course on good agricultural practices was organised through the Fit For Market SPS programme for 14 small agri-food entrepreneurs and producers in Ghana who are part of The Food Bridge’s network. The training was co-facilitated by two Ghana-based trainers, Mark Tutu Sarpong and Benjamin H.K. Atidjah, and was conducted entirely remotely. It consisted of several short live Zoom sessions, as well as practical exercises and case studies prepared by the trainers to illustrate the technical content,… +News Digest: agri-food production, markets and trade
- 11/02/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Angola, Avocados, Bananas, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Caribbean, Citrus fruits, Coconuts, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, French beans, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lychees, Madagascar, Mali, Mangoes, Mauritius, Melons, News, Nigeria, Onions, Pacific, Papayas, Potatoes, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Tomatoes, Uganda, Zimbabwe
PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING Africa UEMOA attempts to respond to soaring fertiliser prices The Ministers of Agriculture and Trade of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) met in Cotonou, Benin in December to discuss the soaring price of fertilisers and their availability. This is a situation faced by most countries in the world, but which is more acute in sub-Saharan Africa, where the rate of dependence on imports of both phosphorus and nitrogen is around 70%, and in a… +News digest: agri-food systems and sustainability
- 10/02/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Caribbean, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, News, Nigeria, Pacific, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
FOOD SYSTEMS AND POLICY Trade relations between the European Union and Africa: forging new partnerships On 10 January, in the context of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and ahead of the European Union-African Union Summit scheduled for February 2022, Franck Riester, French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, held an international ministerial conference dedicated to the prospects of the European trade partnership with Africa. The overhaul of the partnership between the European Union… +News digest: Agri-food markets, production and trade
- 06/12/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Avocados, Cameroon, Caribbean, Citrus fruits, Coffee, Fiji, Kenya, Mangoes, News, Nigeria, Pacific, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda
Agri-food Africa Rwanda: Rwanda plans to double its lending to agriculture Rwanda plans to double its lending to the agricultural sector from 5.2 to 10.4% by 2024. The goal is to modernise agriculture, which now accounts for one-third of Rwanda’s GDP. Small farms can rarely access financial services due to high interest rates (18-24% per year). Access to these loans will enable farmers to invest in new means of production and thus secure the food supply for a country whose… +Smart innovation: Update on the DeSIRA-LIFT project
- 25/10/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, News
The European Union’s DeSIRA programme is working towards the Development of Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture. Launched in June 2021 with funding from the European Commission (DG INTPA), the DeSIRA-LIFT project, “Leveraging the DeSIRA initiative for agri-food systems transformation”, aims to support the programme’s current and future activities in order to enhance its impacts. The EC funding is €6,500,000 for a duration of 3 years (June 2021–May 2024). The specific objectives of DeSIRA-LIFT are: Supporting country-based DeSIRA project actors… +The future of food is in women’s hands
- 16/10/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Angola, Caribbean, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, News, Nigeria, Pacific, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
To celebrate World Food Day (16 October) and the International Day of Rural Women (15 October), COLEACP joins the United Nations in celebrating the unsung contribution of ACP women entrepreneurs to our food system. 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, and global economies have significant impact on poverty reduction, employment creation and wellbeing of rural communities and society at large.… +Kenya: Digital collective training on Food Safety Quality Management System
- 01/10/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, Kenya, News
COLEACP organised a remote training course on “Food Safety Quality Management System” for partner companies of the NExT Kenya programme from 26 July to 27 August 2021. The target audience for this four-week digital training included technical staff (quality managers, packhouse managers and internal auditors) in charge of compliance within horticultural production companies and producer groups. The training was directed toward staff in exporters’ associations that assist their member companies with the implementation of food safety standards. At the end… +Business coaching: SwanCape Farms pushing to the next level
- 20/09/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Nigeria
“I can boldly say it’s the best support I have received towards managing my business.” Dr Agnes Fasehun During June and July 2021, SwanCape Farms, a fast-growing farm-to-door company in Nigeria, participated in business coaching with an Agri-Logic expert, organised and facilitated through the Fit For Market programme. Throughout 2020-21, business training and coaching has formed a key part of COLEACP’s Covid-19 Action Plan. The agri-business coaching focused first on issue resolution – human resources, cashflow and profitability, operations, competition… +