24-Post Harvest Handling and Export Market Quality Issues for Organic Products in Africa Van Elzakker

7/30/2019 24-Post Harvest Handling and Export Market Quality Issues for Organic Products in Africa Van Elzakker

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Post harvest handling and

for organic products in Africa

Bo van Elzakker

gro co ou s o ns u e, e e er an s

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Background

Twenty years of experience, somewhat in CentralAmerica, Asia, but mainly in Africa

More experience in raw materials and its quality

than processing because it is not an easy thing,

Products: cocoa, coffee, instant coffee, tea, cashew,cotton sesame chillies fresh and dried fruitscanned pineapple, honey, dried herbs, spices,vanilla, shea, essential oils, tilapia and Nile perch

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Post-harvest & Processing

Post harvest on the farm, or in the village byfarmers themselves

Processing in central, often more urban locations

Pulping, fermentation, washing, drying, bagging,

Cleaning in the case of oilseeds, cereals, beans

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, Fruit drying, juicing, fruit canning

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Primary product handling

African smallholder farmers can produce goodquantities of good quality raw materials for a

competitive price, meeting various certification

requirements. What is needed:

Assistance, in-house or external, NGO or commercial

r ce ncen ve Training, experimentation, learning

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Training topics

Good farming practices Pro er harvestin , ost-harvest ractices

International quality requirements, HACCP

Measures to avoid microor anisms Salmonella, E. coli

Aflatoxin, ochratoxin

Packaging The economic benefit of quality

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Value addition without processing

Better quality Harvestin ri e, cleanliness, radin

Certifications

Bi er uantities

Other services like storage, flexibility

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Problem areas

Due to adverse growing, ripening, harvesting, storage conditions

Zero tolerance in EU

Storage facilities

Accidents during transport um ga on n e por

Irregularities due to lack of awareness and quality

mana ement

Can be done, expert input required, local service providers,

do entrepreneurs want to use and pay for it

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Interestin from socio-economic oint of view

Industrialisation: minimum size of operation One comment

Preferably not in the countryside

Power, water, telephone, roads, repairmen, educated staff

Centralised urban settin

Still generation of employment but not for farmers

Second comment

ong, a story, many a ures Supply driven

NGOs are not entrepreneurs

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Requirements on the entrepreneurs


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Particular troubles in

Sourcing sufficient volumes of certified organic

Sourcing-importing organic processing ingredients

like organic sugar Importing modern packaging machines &

materials (changing consumer preferences)

T e nee or energy e c ent, mo ern equ pment Limited know how in food processing technology

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n ro uc ng a sys em men a y


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Some considerations

For starters it takes up to five years to develop andcommercialise export volumes of a finished

product, attaining the right quality, and

certifications necessary to enter the market. But markets are ever changing

Anticipating and planning for changes in market

an consumer pre erences requ res a ast responseand flexible producer conditions.

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e canne p neapp e Shorta e in the Euro ean market, lack of ood roduct, there was one

expensive Asian product with rusting cans.

A canning company in Africa showed an interest to do it. Had beenproducing for the local market

Invited to Biofach to make contacts. Saw competition, saw prices, waslot better than local market.

Got in deeper contact with one importer who gave a CIF price. Made cost price calculation. Was promising.

Started project, group of farmers in conversion. Because start on newland, one year conversion only.

upp er o cans stoppe supp y ng. ro em w t qua ty o t e cans,seam breaking. Quite some production thrown away.

Made first batch

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en ac o e nex o ac w rs cans, prov s ona a e


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Importer said taste was very good but prices were half because of new

supplier in the market.

Disillusioned. All cans produced sold off on local market.

Little market study; decided to go for 5 kg catering cans.

Other importer

Other can, find supplier, change equipment

Next year Biofach prices were back up (the one new promising supplierhad not emerged).

Skipped idea of catering cans.

First importer mad about TZ supplier going to other importer.

Wanted pineapple in glass jars. Modification of equipment. Glass made by one supplier, lids by another. Leaking lids

Visit by representative from importer. Could not believe his eyes.

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Need to introduce HACCP system.


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Contract made. Labels sent. Pre finance sent.

Change of factory manager Problems in getting pineapples to factory because of bad road.

Des ite EU funds available slow re air of road

Delay in making the order (past Christmas)

One container shipped, stuck in port.

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Importer mad, had to cancel contracts, slow sales, no repeat order

Farmers organized, sell their pineapples as a group locally, and makebetter mone .

Also, because of farmer organization, got borehole in the village.

Done a lot on farming practices, firewood planting

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Project a success?

Documents

24-Post Harvest Handling and Export Market Quality Issues for Organic Products in Africa Van Elzakker