Stakeholders in the project praised the positive impact of the project on the export of vegetables due to the presence of harmful organisms in the importation of vegetables from Ghana to the European Union.
Stakeholders who spoke at the closing meeting appreciated the contribution made by reversing the trend of major intervention by restoring farmers’ hopes.
Interventions contributed to a reduction of harmful organisms in the EU market from the top 330 in 2020 to 2020.
Strengthen the fruit and vegetable sector in Ghana to increase exports to the European Union ”- FDOV project
CABI Regional Representative, Dr. Victor Atukukiye Clotte, said the project was requested by the PPRSD-MoFA Directorate of Plant Health and Control to develop the country’s plant health system for 2014.
He said the project was implemented through a multi-stakeholder approach, including government, commercial farmers, exporters and Dutch importers, to overcome some challenges in the horticulture sector through a government-private partnership led by CABI.
CABI, PPRSD / MOEA, Ghana’s Exporters Association (GAVEX), Quarcoo Initiatives Co. Limited (Quin Organic) and EOSTA BV
The overall objective of the project was to increase the export of fruits and vegetables from Ghana to the European Union, the development of plant health systems, good agricultural practices, proper business, infrastructure development, compliance with international standards and knowledge sharing among value chain actors.
On key achievements, the project manager, KABI Walter Heavy, said the project has worked with other stakeholders to establish an effective herbal treatment system supported by regulatory protocols, routine procedures and plant monitoring systems.
All of these promoted good agricultural practices in the supply chain.
It has also worked to ensure compliance with production standards, implementation of management systems, availability of technical support for certification, infrastructure, inspection, packaging and storage and communication between exporters and farmers based on proper business and development. Quarcoo Initiatives Co., Ghana. Ltd. Quin Organics to EOSTA BV New Organic Certified Citrus Supply in the Netherlands.
In addition to the development of inputs, the project provided capacity training to 1,565 different actors, including horticultural producers, exporters, PPRSD inspectors and agricultural extension agents with good agricultural practices, plant hygiene measures and major quarantine pests. False code includes moths, white flies, fruit flies, trips, egg yolks and shoots, and spring worms.
Based on a 50 percent contribution from interested GAVEX members, the project builds renovated and developed packaging facilities. So far, four packaging facilities have been refurbished and used. Four new ones are still in use and five are under construction. In GlobalGAP documents, two companies have received a Global Gap certificate and three other companies.
Describing the positive impact of the FDOV project on the business, Samuel Ni Quarco, CEO of Quinn Organ, said: Handling and packaging of our products to meet international export standards. “Quin organic has also benefited from the project’s technical capacity building programs, which will enable us to export fruits and vegetables to the EU market and bring significant growth,” he said. When exporting certain organic citrus products ”
Another FDOV project intervention was the purchase, field monitoring, and data collection of various laboratory equipment for the PPRSD Laboratory in Pokémon to assist in the detection of pests and diseases in the laboratory.
At the meeting, Hanna Serwa Numah, PPRSD Representative in collaboration with the FDOV Project, spoke about the benefits of PPRSD’s work in enhancing human, logistical and operational capacity. He has been instrumental in carrying out his commission effectively.
As a result of successful interventions between the project and its partners, the European Commission lifted the ban in January 2018, Mr Heavy said.
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Clotte urged various stakeholders to use the experiences gained from collaboration to increase the success of other projects.
Background
In 2011-2015, Ghana’s vegetable production plummeted due to auxiliary organisms in the EU market. It rose from 82 to 291 in 2015. There were 330 major interventions in 2014.
In October 2015, the European Commission decided to suspend five (5) plant products from Ghana to the EU market until the end of December 2016.
The five banned vegetables were peppercorns, luffa / rye gourd, bitter gourd, eggplant and bottled gourd and the main pests seized between 2012 and 2015 were fruit flies, fake moths and white flies.
A follow-up audit was conducted in September 2016 and the European Commission has decided to renew the ban by one year until December 2017.
It is estimated that Ghana lost $ 36 million between 2015 and 2017 as a result of the ban.
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