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News digest: Agri-food markets and production
The 8,300 participants of the Eleventh African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) came together in Nairobi, Kenya from 7 to 10 September 2021 to call for and plan action on building resilient food systems in Africa.
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Capacity building in Sustainable Environmental Management
This time of year is associated with the major international summits for the protection of the environment – and this year they are even more crucial. The first part of the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) has just ended with the adoption of the Kunming Declaration outlining the ambitions of the signatory states in terms of nature protection. The aim of COP15 is to reach a framework for restoring biodiversity by 2030, and to be “living in harmony with nature” by 2050. COP15’s sister event, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), opens on 31 October. The challenge is to agree on the final technical details of the Paris Agreement, the new rules for carbon markets, and the transparency framework.The two events are closely linked: “Because climate change and biodiversity loss are intertwined, with the potential for both win–win solutions and vicious cycles of destruction, they must be addressed together” (New York Times, 14 October 2021). Biodiversity loss and climate change are two sides of the same coin.More than ever, we need to recognise that climate change, biodiversity loss and the food system are closely linked. Biodiversity is the basis of sustainable food systems. At present, the way we produce food is responsible for a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – and it is the main cause of biodiversity loss. Our food system has a major impact on our planet. We need to adopt good practices for nature and biodiversity that can reduce the impacts of the food system and agriculture.
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Reducing pesticide use in tropical agriculture
On 11–12 October COLEACP participated in a workshop on “Reducing the use of pesticides in tropical agriculture: Key challenges and strategies”, organised by the Agropolis Foundation. During these two days, scientists from the European Union, Middle East and Africa exchanged views on topics ranging from epidemiology, toxicology and environmental impact to societal impacts resulting from pesticide use across the globe.Edouard Lehmann, COLEACP’s Research & Innovation Manager, took part in a round table on how to promote multi-stakeholder collaboration in research and development of solutions. The aim was to get feedback from the private sector, particularly MSMEs and SMEs from ACP countries. The use of plant protection products has implications both for trade and for operators in the field. Changes of policy can influence competitiveness, access to markets and sourcing of products.The major issue faced by MSMEs and SMEs is access to affordable, effective and safe alternative solutions. Investment in research and innovation by both private and public sectors, especially for minor crops, is still lacking. If biocontrol solutions exist, they mainly remain in research and private sectors. More local registrations are needed to ensure growers are provided with a suitable toolset to implement integrated management (IPM). COLEACP is invested in this work through the Fit For Market SPS programme, supporting field research to fast-track registration of effective solutions to control priority pests and diseases.While all the presentations demonstrated considerable advancements in research regarding epidemiology, toxicity and environmental impact assessment, as well as pesticide handling and application, it was recalled that food production systems also have social and economic dimensions. Transformation to more sustainable agribusiness is not a one-step process, and more research is needed in areas such as the social and economic sciences, as well as trying to upscale successes in the field by transposing successful IPM strategies to tropical soils, climates and production systems.The objective of this workshop was to set a baseline for the development of a multidisciplinary scientific network in Montpellier. This network will be active in pesticide reduction in the tropics, and able to advise multi-stakeholder initiatives dedicated to pesticide reduction by leveraging research for development activities from the Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) and France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAe).The Agropolis Foundation was created by CIRAD, IRD, INRAe, SupAgro Montpellier and the University of Montpellier in 2007. It works on climate change, biodiversity and responsible production and consumption in Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa.This activity is supported by the Fit For Market SPS programme, implemented by COLEACP within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union.
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Sustainability Self-Assessment System at the heart of COLEACP’s activities through FFM and FFM SPS programmes
Sustainability – environmental, social and economic – is key to COLEACP’s mission. Our members are encouraged to sign up to our Sustainability Charter, and to regularly complete our Sustainability Self-Assessment System, which was initially supported by the Fit For Market programme (FFM). The system enables producers and agribusinesses to monitor their evolving impacts in all three areas and demonstrate their progress to current and potential customers, and other interested parties. By utilising the system, businesses can: Strive for continuous improvement by answering simple questions on practical and achievable actions Enhance business management through internal monitoring to drive continuous improvement, oversee costs and revenues, support planning, and facilitate access to finance Improve their market access by aligning practices with industry norms, meeting buyers’ expectations and recording evidence of their good practice Increase their competitiveness through good practices that make them more efficient, profitable & resilient Capitalise on their advantages by providing evidence of sustainability which gives access to high-value and niche marketsCompanies’ individual action plans are informed by the system, and the data obtained (aggregated and anonymised) is used in the evaluation of FFM and FFM SPS programmes. The Sustainability Self-Assessment System enables businesses to monitor their progress in the following environmental, social and economic areas: General information: Farm management, Crop-specific management Environmental practices: Soil management, Water management, Biodiversity management, Waste management, Energy management, Carbon accounting management Crop production practices: Agricultural practices management, Soil and fertilisers, Irrigation Food safety quality management Business practices: Complying with the law, Behaving as good corporate citizens, Being good business partners Human resources: Human resources management, Basic labour rights, Health and safety Financial management
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Unfair Trading Practices Directive now law in most EU countries
For over 10 years, COLEACP has been part of a coalition of organisations, including Oxfam, the Fair Trade Advocacy Office and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM-EU), lobbying the EU to tackle unfair trading practices (UTPs) in agricultural supply chains. We advocated strongly for new legal provisions to extend beyond the EU to also protect third country suppliers. The groundbreaking EU Directive 2019/633 on Unfair Trading Practices in Business Relationships between Businesses in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain was formally adopted in April 2019, and each EU Member State had two years to put into force (or “transpose”) the Directive. The EU webpage “Unfair trading practices explained” describes the 16 practices targeted. The deadline to transpose the Directive expired in May 2021, but a number of Member States have still not done so, and the Commission issued letters of formal notice to 12 countries in July 2021. When transposing the Directive into their national law, EU countries can choose to be stricter than the Directive and go beyond its scope, and some countries, such as Germany, have done so. The progress of each country in transposing the Directive is updated here.On 22 September the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) officially adopted the exploratory opinion “Towards a Fair Food Supply Chain”. The EESC “welcomes efforts undertaken by some Member States that have raised the level of ambition above the minimum harmonisation standards of the Directive and put in place laws that offer additional protection to EU and non-EU suppliers”. The EESC “welcomes that the Commission decided to regulate unfair trading practices, but regrets that the Commission did not foster a harmonised approach across MS to avoid fragmentation in the single market”. The Committee urges all Member States to transpose and implement the Directive as soon as possible.Through the Fit For Market and Fit For Market SPS programmes, COLEACP is continuing to work with a group of advocacy organisations to ensure that supply chain operators are informed about their rights under the Directive, and the procedures that they can use. In the coming weeks we will support the Fair Trade Advocacy Office in the dissemination of a leaflet giving practical explanations of the rules for operators in third countries. A workshop to provide detailed information to operators, with a focus on developing and emerging economies, will be held in early November.This activity is supported by the Fit For Market and Fit For Market SPS programmes, implemented by COLEACP within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union. Fit For Market is co-funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).
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Smart innovation: Update on the DeSIRA-LIFT project
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 to enhance their capacity to manage changes in climate-oriented innovation systems in line with sustainable agri-food system transformations Supporting the five partner organisations of CAADP-XP41, the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), and the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) in promoting agricultural innovation systems Making knowledge work for the EC policy (DG INTPA, EU delegations and their partners) and contributing to the policy dialogue on agri-food system transformations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.COLEACP is the lead of the second service area (with support from the Natural Resources Institute), working closely with African research organisations in areas contributing to sustainable agriculture and food systems. Since June, a series of meetings have been held with CAADP-XP4 and partners to learn about their work on agricultural innovation systems and know more about theecosystem in which the operate in order to define joint action plans.Activities in the coming months will include supporting CAADP-XP4 to strengthen their contributions to Malabo Declaration commitments (in the lead-up to its ten-year anniversary, Malabo+10); review uptake of climate-smart innovations in National and Regional Agricultural Investment Plans and sharing of best practices; identify innovations to scale up; and promote multi-stakeholder dialogues, including a focus on private sector engagement.1 CAADP-XP4 is the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) ex-Pillar IV: Africa Regional and Sub-regional Organizations for Agricultural Research and Innovation project. The five partner organisations are : Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA); the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA); West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
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Suriname: Working with Surivit to develop a social enterprise business
Surivit, a Surinamese company specialising in fruit and cassava processing, produces cassava flour, baby porridge, cassava pancake mixes and cassava flakes both for local use in Suriname and for export markets. Surivit works closely with women’s cooperative Wi! Uma fu Sranan (WUFS - “We the women of Suriname”), an organisation that aims to improve the living standards of female producers. Surivit has the ambition to professionalise as a social enterprise, with the aim of generating a significant positive impact on society, the environment and the local community through an entrepreneurial approach.Through the Fit For Market SPS programme, COLEACP has appointed an international expert from Profound (Netherlands) to help Surivit achieve its social enterprise objective. Firstly, the consultant will carry out a needs analysis of the company’s current governance model, which will include all stakeholders involved in Surivit's business model. This analysis will be followed by training in the social enterprise model for Surivit and its key stakeholders. The third part of the assignment will be a review of Surivit's current business model with a view to modifying it towards a social enterprise model.The outcome will be a business model that integrates the company’s social objectives into its existing model, and allows Surivit to address the socioeconomic needs of cooperatives while ensuring the economic and environmental sustainability of the enterprise.
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Pacific: Training continues in the context of Covid
Agriculture in the Pacific region has suffered during the pandemic due to its close relationship with tourism. COLEACP’s regional relay in Fiji, Mereia Volavola, describes the impact:
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Resource for NPPOs: Phytosanitary awareness and R-SAT
Dr Chagema Kedera, NExT Kenya Programme Coordinator, presented a webinar organised by CABI on "Phytosanitary Awareness: IPPC contracting parties’ obligations and phytosanitary measures for market access" to over 70 participants.The presentation covers the obligations of contracting parties to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC); the functions of National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs); International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs); and the IPPC Market Access Guide.You can view the webinar here:
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Market report: Logistics in Suriname and the Caribbean
Through the Fit For Market SPS programme and within the context of the Covid-19 action plan, COLEACP’s Market Intelligence service has been working with the Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products of Suriname (Vereniging van Exporteurs van Agrarische Producten in Suriname, VEAPS), a professional association representing the country’s farmers and exporters of horticultural products.This collaboration is taking place in a context where Suriname’s exports have been suffering from a lack of competitiveness and logistics, constituting a bottleneck to export growth (particularly to the European continent). The Covid-19 factor has further contributed to this situation by reducing the availability of freight and increasing prices. It is therefore important, through this report, to map Suriname's export logistics, to identify areas for improvement and to be creative in identifying new export routes.Exports of fruit and vegetables from Suriname are facing limited and fluctuating logistics capacity and higher costs compared with other fresh produce export markets. This situation results in a loss of competitiveness and hampers VEAPS’ objective to further expand its exports, both within the Caribbean regional market and to Europe.COLEACP and VEAPS have studied available and potential new shipping routes for international and regional exports. The review provides an overview of the logistics demand in Suriname; the offer in the Caribbean region, including the price element; and the potential to increase this offer or combine the demand with other regional demand.For Suriname, cereals and bananas are the main commodities transported by sea; other fruits and vegetables are moved by air. The available payload for perishables is subject to high fluctuations due to competition from goods with higher yields and higher loading priorities, such as fish.At present, there is no direct shipping line to Europe – shipping services involve one or two transhipments, with transit times ranging from 19 to 30 days. However, the report highlights different routes to the continent, using transport lines with intra-regional services that ultimately offer good connection possibilities to the European market through air cargo gateways in the Caribbean.The upcoming report, currently in production, focuses on the potential for four alternative routes: direct air, air-air, sea-air, and road-air.This activity is supported by the Fit For Market SPS programme, implemented by COLEACP within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union.Source: Photo by Eric Salard - PZ-TCQ, CC BY-SA 2.0
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The future of food is in women’s hands
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.So supporting women’s entrepreneurship across the value chain is one of the most powerful routes to promote agriculture and agribusiness and to boost sustainable rural development.The PAFO-COLEACP Innovation Series has been featuring women agribusiness entrepreneurs – here are a few examples.Halatou Dem is the Director General of Les Céréales de TATAM SARL, Mali, a company that produces and processes local cereals with high nutritional content (such as fortified millet flour, pre-cooked fonio, monicourou, diouka, etc.) in healthy, ready-to-eat be products sold across Africa, Europe and the USA. Initially, the company processed grains produced in Mali in an artisanal way. Halatou joined the company in 2010 and undertook to modernise the company and industrialise all the processing steps. This has reduced the risks related to artisanal processing, increased production volumes, and supported the underdeveloped processing sector in Mali.Watch Halatou’s presentation at Innovations Session n°1 here.Alice Riouall is the Founder and CEO of Mango So, Burkina Faso, which processes fresh mango and coconut into organic and Fairtrade dried chips, mainly exported to international markets, mostly to France and Germany. Mango-So constantly anticipates and develops produces adapted to specific markets, such as mango jam and mango sirop for the local market. Its mission is to contribute to fighting poverty through creating employment, especially for women, providing them with financial autonomy and technical skills in the fruit and vegetable processing sector.Watch Alice’s presentation at Innovations Session n°1 here. Affiong Williams is the CEO of Reelfruit, Nigeria, a company that creates new value chains by processing fresh fruit in value-added convenience products and snacks, and by building its own network for distribution. The processed mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, bananas and plantains are distributed in local and export markets, including through Amazon. The company aims to produce Nigerian food products that meet world-class standards and to market them everywhere; as well as to invest in the potential of Nigerian agriculture for wealth and job creation. ReelFruit also works actively to empower women by introducing female farmers to high-value mango farming.Watch Affiong’s presentation at the Innovations Session n°2 here.Catherine Krobo Edusei is the Managing Director of Eden Tree Limited, Ghana, which produces, packages and markets high-end fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs, as well as convenience foods, to promote healthy eating habits. The heathy value-added products are exported within West Africa. Eden Tree works closely with over 200 approved smallholder suppliers and helps them to develop their production, including by providing loans. Eden Tree has created jobs for urban farmers in Accra and the Ada area by providing training and education to its stakeholders. The company also pays tuition fees for the children of staff members, provides educational materials, and organises childcare to enable mothers to continue to work and attend to their children.Watch Affiong’s presentation at Innovations Session n°2 here.Bertille Guèdègbé Marcos is the CEO of Les Jus Tillou, Benin, a family business producing fresh pineapples and processing them into organic juice and dried fruit. These quality products from environmentally friendly agriculture are exported to Europe. With the recent acquisition of a packaging facility, pineapple juice will also be supplied to the local market. In 2016, when the Beninese government decided to temporarily suspend exports of fresh coloured pineapples to the European Union, Les Fruits Tillou decided to focus on the production and marketing of organic pineapple and to invest in organic production and certification.Watch Bertille’s presentation at Innovations Session n°2 here.Marie Ange Mukagahima is the founder and CEO of Zima Enterprise, Rwanda, a company that adds value to pumpkin and pumpkin seeds by processing them into pumpkinseed oil, pumpkin cookies, roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed flour. Zima Enterprise enables five rural cooperatives of women farmers and over 50 farmers to form a ready link to the pumpkin market. The company provides its farmers with high-quality seed for sowing, has provided farmers with solar dryers, and delivers training on the extraction and drying of pumpkin seeds.Watch Marie Ange’s presentation at the Innovations Session n°5 here.Jolenta Joseph is the founder and CEO of Sanavita, Tanzania, which adds value to crops such as orange fleshed sweet potatoes, beans and maize. The goal of Sanavita is to address the high rates of malnutrition in Tanzania; especially anaemia (which mainly affects women at reproductive age) and vitamin A deficiency (from which one out of three children under the age of six suffers). Sanavita delivers training in good farming and management practices, and offers consultancy on a range of issues including nutrition for special groups (community risk); nutrition for children under six years; malnutrition interventions; and production and quality of biofortified crops.Watch Jolenta’s presentation at Innovations Session n°5 here.Oluwaseun Sangoleye is the founder and CEO of Baby Grubz, Nigeria, an innovative social enterprise based in Lagos which manufactures packaged infant meals and snacks made from grains, fruit and vegetables, and operates in Ghana, Togo and the United Kingdom. Baby Grubz aims to change the way babies are fed in Africa, and to reduce the high rates of malnutrition and poverty in Nigeria. Its products are prepared with “superfoods” sourced locally in order to tackle the major deficiencies in baby and infant nutrition. The target consumers are low- and middle-income women with children aged six months to five years. Baby Grubz also works with over 300,000 mothers to provide peer-to-peer mentoring on the benefits of nutritious foods and breastfeeding.Watch Oluwaseun’s presentation at Innovations Session n°5 here.
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Rural women - heroes and role models - are not celebrated enough
Did you know? "Rural women make up a quarter of the world's population and work as farmers, entrepreneurs or agricultural workers" United Nations.To celebrate the International Day of Rural Women (15 October) and World Food Day (16 October), COLEACP joins the UN in celebrating the resilience of rural women in the wake of Covid-19. The pandemic has affected most sectors, and many are still struggling to recover. Agriculture is no exception, especially the women in this sector. According to the UN, the impacts are "even more serious for women and girls, especially in rural areas"."The pandemic has increased inequalities around the world; the most vulnerable populations are once again the hardest hit, and not just in emerging countries" (Jeremy Knops, General Delegate, COLEACP). So COLEACP ensured that it could continue to operate in the face of this upheaval through its Covid-19 action plan. The focus includes women working in the agricultural sector, who contribute enormously to development, and are the first to be affected by this pandemic.COLEACP’s holistic and inclusive approach strives to highlight women in ACP countries who are committed to the sustainable and inclusive development of horticulture, as they contribute to agricultural production, food security and nutrition, and building adaptive capacity to climate change.Through its programmes, COLEACP supports women in the horticulture sector to build their capacity through training (group training and via our e-learning platform). We also provide support in business management and access to finance to address gender inequalities.A good example is Affiong Williams, CEO of Reelfruit, Nigeria, a company that creates new value chains by processing fresh fruit in value-added convenience products and like snacks, and building its own distribution network. ReelFruit works actively to empower women by introducing female farmers to high-value mango farming. It is supporting 45 women aged between 18 and 50, who have on average 3 children, to receive Global G.A.P. training on mango farming.You can see more examples of rural women entrepreneurs featured in the PAFO-COLEACP Innovation Series here. To rural women from all ACP countries, we wish you a good International Day of Rural Women. We can't encourage you enough. You are our heroes!