Systems and services update

GLOBALG.A.P. partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support efforts to improve the resilience of the local agricultural sector in Lesotho in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is based on the UN COVID-19 response strategy and the UNDP policy offer 2.0 for COVID-19 recovery. The project focuses on building the capacity and resilience of the local agricultural sector to produce and supply the local market through sustainable production, processing, and marketing processes. In collaboration with local stakeholders, UNDP sought to implement activities aimed at mobilizing the private sector, building capacities of smallholder farmers through the scaling of productivity and creation of networks for market access for economic recovery, as well as creating more employment opportunities.

GLOBALG.A.P. was approached to help improve the capacities and expertise of local agricultural experts, enabling them to support smallholder producers in Lesotho. The goal is to enable local consultants to work directly with smallholder farmers, supporting them in improving local resilience and helping them comply with regional and international market regulations in the horticulture and livestock sectors.

In order to achieve this, and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, GLOBALG.A.P. adapted its training methods to provide online training in the implementation and assessment of IFA and GRASP, as well as training in the implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. frameworks such as quality management systems and internal inspector trainings.
In total, 43 participants from across the horticulture and livestock sectors successfully completed the trainings.

GLOBALG.A.P. also conducted a five-day research tour in South Africa to help facilitate an understanding of how producers and producer organizations in South Africa implement GLOBALG.A.P./localg.a.p. standards. A total of 15 delegates attended the tour and were able to learn about the role of mentorship in helping smallholder farmers enter national markets, obtain certification to food safety standards, and network with different key players of South Africa’s agricultural industry.

The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) is on a mission to promote the Namibian agronomic industry, facilitating the production, processing, storage, and marketing of controlled agronomic and horticultural products in Namibia. The NAB sees GLOBALG.A.P. as an important tool in this process, and GLOBALG.A.P. has been working alongside NAB to facilitate the adoption and integration of the localg.a.p. PFA and GLOBALG.A.P. IFA standards in the region.

Activities throughout 2020 and 2021 have included the delivery of several training workshops to enhance the capacities of local experts in the assessment and implementation of GLOBALG.A.P. and localg.a.p. standards, as well as the provision of group certification workshops on quality management systems and internal inspector training.

As work continues into 2022, Managing Director Kristian Moeller visited Namibia to speak with industry and government representatives on the importance of both GLOBALG.A.P. and localg.a.p. for Namibia. GLOBALG.A.P. has also been conducting a series of mentorship programs, working closely with producers to prepare them to independently assess the status quo of farms under the localg.a.p. and GLOBALG.A.P. standards.

Agriculture forms an essential part of the national economy in Tanzania. Under the Tanzanian Five Year Development Plan, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to strengthen agriculture so that its share of Tanzania’s GDP will rise from 22% at present to 32% by 2025 or 2026. In addition, a national food security target has been set, with a self-sufficiency rate of 140%.

As part of the efforts to meet these targets, a partnership between GLOBALG.A.P., the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA), and the Finnish agriculture agency for Food and Forest Development (FFD) has been striving to create better, more sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers in Tanzania. The partnership aims to encourage smallholders to meet the quality demands of domestic export markets, since increased awareness of European market requirements (specifically the requirement for certification to IFA), and the implementation thereof, can drive growth. In recent years there has been a significant increase in IFA certification, from 24 certificates to 40 certificates in 2020.

However, in order to continue to grow the agricultural sector in Tanzania and support the goals of the Five Year Development Plan, there is a pressing need to continue to increase the number of certified producers in Tanzania with certified production processes and support farmers in achieving GLOBALG.A.P. certification. To help bridge this gap, GLOBALG.A.P. has facilitated the delivery of several online training workshops to enhance the capacities of local experts in the implementation of the IFA standard. This project has also focused on training producers in the implementation and assessment of GRASP.

As well as providing training, GLOBALG.A.P. has been working in close collaboration with TAHA and FFD to organize a multi-day GLOBALG.A.P. TOUR stop in 2022 aimed at addressing market access challenges that are preventing compliance with GLOBALG.A.P. standards. Bringing together a diverse audience of producers, researchers, development partners, and government and industry representatives, the TOUR stop will also aim to provide farmers, exporters, and traders with the information they need to not only achieve certification to IFA but also comply with the latest social sustainability criteria (including GRASP) and achieve sustainable water management through the SPRING add-on.

Looking ahead to the TOUR stop, GLOBALG.A.P. is proud of the opportunity to work alongside so many different participants with the same goal of supporting smallholders in Tanzania.