Celebrate resilient African and Caribbean MSMEs supporting sustainability, growth and inclusion
- 27/06/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Caribbean, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
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With respectively less than 10, 50 and 250 employees, Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of most economies. They account worldwide for over 70% of all businesses and for more than 50% of jobs,1 especially for women and youth. MSMEs work with millions of family farms and contribute to securing food safety and security, providing nutrition to local consumers and communities, as well as promoting innovation and creativity towards sustainable food systems. MSMEs are highly sensitive to… +Senegal: Training on market requirements for ANCAR supervisors
- 22/06/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, News, Senegal
A training course was organised in Thiès, Senegal, from 8 to 10 June 2022, for ANCAR extension service supervisors, as part of the Fit For Market SPS programme. The training, which brought together 25 participants, addressed the demands of the local, regional and export markets and their differences, the respective requirements of each of these markets (regulatory, commercial, etc.), the non-tariff barriers, the steps to reach the desired market, and the technical and financial implications for both the producer and… +Study Tour by Somali Bureau of Standards and Somali Agricultural Regulatory and Inspection Service (SARIS) to Kenya
- 01/06/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Somalia
Representatives of the Somali Bureau of Standards (SoBS) and the Somali Agricultural Regulatory Inspection Service (SARIS) will be visiting Nairobi between 23and 28 May. The aim of the tour is to reinforce the capacity of Somalia’s competent authorities to better understand the agricultural regulatory and standard development processes. Their objectives are to learn how standardisation and conformity assessments are done in Kenya, and how the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) works. The visit will include a meeting with the Kenya… +Togo: Standards training of ANABIO members on organic agriculture
- 27/05/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: News, Togo
A training workshop on the Togolese organic agriculture standard and the local organic certification process for member companies of the National Association for Organic Agriculture in Togo (ANABIO) was held from 3 to 5 May 2022 in Lomé. Thirty-four (34) participants from about twenty horticultural companies took part in this training whose main objectives were to (i) train on the concept of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and the Togolese regulatory requirements for the production, processing, and distribution of organic… +Penja pepper: Training on SPS good practices for internal auditors and competent authorities
- 09/05/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Cameroon, News
In Njombé, Cameroon, from 26 to 28 April, a three-day training session on good sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) practices and control points was organised for the Penja pepper value chain, specifically for internal controllers/auditors and for the inspection and control services of competent authorities. The training was organised by COLEACP in the framework of the Fit For Market SPS programme and the STDF Cameroon project. The training session aimed to: define internal controls and the role of the inspector in… +Support to the agroecological transition/DEFIA: First stage of training-of-trainers in Benin’s pineapple sector
- 18/04/2022
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Africa, Benin, News
As part of the project “Support to the agroecological transition of the pineapple sector in Benin”, COLEACP organised a training of trainer’s session in Cotonou from 28 to 30 March 2022. About twenty selected experts participated in this session, which is part of a training cycle planned in three stages and which aims to strengthen the skills of relay experts on technical and pedagogical subjects so that they can subsequently accompany DEFIA’s partner clusters in their agro-ecological transition projects. This… +News Digest: Agri-food Markets, Production and Trade
- 11/04/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
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… +Catch up on our latest webinars showcasing ACP agribusinesses
- 06/04/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
Two recent webinars focused on agrifood businesses in the Caribbean and Africa: “Agriculture trade: Opportunities for SMEs and businesses in export markets” (with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, IICA); and “Catalysing young African agri-entrepreneurs’ investments” (with the Pan-African Farmers’ Organization, PAFO). Agriculture trade: Opportunities for SMEs and businesses in export markets IICA-COLEACP Caribbean Agrifood Business Series: Session No. 5 This series focuses on innovations and successes of Caribbean farmer-led businesses and SMEs. The 31 March session highlighted the… +Caribbean: Strategic review and new action plan for CAHFSA
- 06/04/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Caribbean, News
The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) has agreed a customised action plan for the implementation of Fit For Market SPS programme support. The main aims of the action plan are to strengthen the agency’s organisation and governance; provide capacity building for its members and staff, including in COLEACP’s Rapid SPS Assessment Tool (R-SAT); and share expertise in facilitating intra-regional trade through networking and engagement with the private sector. In September 2021, a strategic review webinar with CAHFSA’s… +