World Youth Skills Day: the Caribbean ecosystem supporting youth entrepreneurship
- 15/07/2023
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: ACP EN, Corp EN
No CommentsWorld Youth Skills Day focuses on the strategic importance of equipping youth with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. Youth play a central role in the agricultural value chain, however youth-specific support systems must be in place to enable their success. This calls on an entrepreneurial ecosystem that attracts young entrepreneurs and understands their needs. To continue this discussion, the IICA-COLEAD Caribbean Agrifood Business series held its ninth session focusing on Successes from innovative youth-led businesses/SMEs in the agrifood… +World MSME Day 2023: linking agribusiness and research to meet the SDGs
- 27/06/2023
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: ACP EN, Corp EN, News
The World MSME Day on 27 June is a celebration of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and their crucial role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the United Nations, MSMEs are the backbone of most economies, accounting for over 70% of all businesses worldwide and more than 50% of jobs. These enterprises play a vital role in working with millions of family farms, contributing to food safety and security, and providing nutrition to local… +Boosting intra-Africa trade: the agricultural midstream in the value chain – FFM+ in action at AASW8 side events
- 23/05/2023
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: ACP EN, Corp EN, News
As the link between the primary production of crops and the final stage of consumption, the agricultural midstream sector has a great potential to drive intra-African trade. It includes the processing, storage, and transportation of agricultural products, and it plays a crucial role in improving their quality, and making them marketable. This also contributes to reducing post-harvest losses. At the same time, intra-Africa trade has long been recognized as a crucial driver of economic growth and development for the continent.… +FFM+ : Over 550 applications received from 45 member countries of the OACPS
- 11/04/2023
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
As part of the implementation of the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, the COLEAD team has organized 6 virtual regional events and 20 national workshops since May 2022, bringing together a total of 1,600 participants. The team has also met with numerous potential partner-beneficiaries at trade fairs and conferences. Interested organisations were invited to fill out an application for support form available on the COLEAD website. The form is tailored to each type of organisation: production/processing companies, service providers,… +COP 27: our future is in the hands of the agricultural and food industry
- 15/11/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
Over the past decades, agriculture has continuously expanded and enhanced its productivity to ensure food security and food safety to the growing global population in an unsustainable way. This has led to the loss of natural ecosystems, declining biodiversity and increasing greenhouse gas emissions1. The global agrifood system, which includes food production, processing, packaging and transport, is responsible for one of the largest shares of greenhouse gas emissions2 and thus is an important contributor to climate change. However, promoting more… +IICA-COLEACP Caribbean Agrifood Business Session n°6
- 28/10/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Caribbean, News
This series of events focuses on innovations and successes of Caribbean farmer-led businesses and SMEs. The events are organised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and COLEACP. Sustainable agriculture, good practices, bioeconomy, trade, food safety and quality, resilience, and the link between agriculture and tourism are some of the key focus areas for collaborative efforts. The sixth session, held on 25 August 2022, focused on the “High-end market opportunities for Caribbean agrifood products”. To compete globally, it… +News Digest: Agri-food Markets, Production and Trade
- 28/10/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
Agri-food Africa Changes to EU and GB pesticide maximum residue levels Following the departure of the UK from the EU, Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya’s (FPEAK) monitoring of pesticide regulations now covers maximum residue level (MRL) changes in both the EU and Great Britain (GB), enabling FPEAK to keep members and partner-beneficiaries up to date. During the period April-June 2022, notifications of MRL changes were issued for flutianil (EU), sulfoxaflor (GB), cyantraniliprole (GB) and cinmethylin (GB). The EU and… +#WorldFoodDay: Agrifood SMEs and businesses contribution to leaving no one behind
- 16/10/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: ACP EN, News
The World Food Day 2022 highlights the increasing interlinkages of economies, cultures, and populations with its theme “leave no one behind”. Global health, planet and political challenges call for global solutions that include guaranteeing the access and availability of nutritious food, as well as reducing food losses and waste. These solutions should specifically be designed and adapted to rural populations as they are the most vulnerable to food and climate crises, with 80 % of the extreme poor living in… +Celebrate young African and Caribbean entrepreneurs
- 12/08/2022
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Caribbean, News
The young people of today and tomorrow play a central role in transforming food systems to provide access to sufficient and nutritious food, and adopt sustainable approaches to address climatic and environmental challenges. There are 1.2 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 worldwide (16% of the global population), of whom nearly 1 billion world resides in developing countries. Their numbers are growing far more rapidly than in higher-income countries.1 60% of Africa’s 1,2 billion population are… +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
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… +