Thursday, December 21, 2006

EUREPGAP - The global Partnership for Safe Sustainable Agriculture

The EUREPGAP site contains latest news, online training, trainer guidelines, publications etc... but the only protocol (from agribusiness information services) I found online for fruit and vegetable so far is from 2001 (a new one was approved in 2004, I think).

In Kenya realIPM provide EUREPGAP training (course overview) and other training and do field research including bioprospecting for natural crop protection. DFID funded the poster above and worked with Freshlink to help farmers acquire certification.

Kenya Gatsby Trust is working with AfriCert to mobilize and capacity build smallholder farmers for certification and in collaboration with Rockfeller Foundation, TechnoServe and AfriCert (formally a project of ICIPE) to facilitate accreditation of a local EUREPGAP certfying body and subsequent certification of MSEs to sustain and/or penetrate the European markets. They also have technology for agriculture projects and work with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology which is where one of the Mtito Andei Development Initiative members works.

IDRC also supported a Pride Africa project in Kirinyaga aimed at producing a EUREGAP booklet for local farmers (see also Pride Africa DRUMNET - phase 2 with IDRC ).

There is an EU FP7 project proposal "Common European standards for hygiene in the agricultural and food processing sector – Information and communication technologies and sensors for a user friendly verification management" (presentation) which I haven't yet found anymore info about.

And finally, a radio programme from oneworld, two trainers from Zambia describing their work with small scale farmers to meet Eurepgap export standards.

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