Newsletter N° 1 September 2017

Launched in 2015, the ACP-EU

Commodities Programme (CP) is de-

signed to improve the competitiveness

of small producers engaged in cocoa,

coconut and root/tubers through re-

gional integration of markets concerned

and the intensification of production.

The CP benefits directly to no less than

36 of our ACP countries. It is being im-

plemented by the following partner in-

stitutions:

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Inter-

nationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

- Cocoa;

Food & Agriculture Organisation

(FAO) - Roots & Tubers;

International Trade Centre (ITC)

- Coconuts Caribbean region;

Secretariat of the Pacific Com-

munity (SPC) - Coconuts Pacific

region.

The present Newsletter provides a

sample of the recent activities of these

partners.

Thus, using the Farmer Business

School Approach, GIZ is enhancing

business skills of male and female co-

coa smallholders in West and Central

Africa with a view to improve yields

and revenue, and meet SDGs. We can

also read how, in support of Rwanda’s

Green Growth and Climate Resilience

Strategy, FAO facilitates interventions

promoting sustainable food value

chains.

In the Caribbean, the ITC and

CARDI have joined forces using busi-

ness-driven “Alliance clusters” to bring

together private and public sector ac-

tors in the coconut sector to improve

its competitiveness. The article from

the Pacific Community reports on a re-

cent regional meeting convened to

identify key training and research

Supporting the greening of small food enterprises in Rwanda (FAO)

Within the context of the ongoing ACP-EU

Commodities Programme, FAO is implementing the

project component “Strengthening linkages between

buyers and small actors in the Roots and Tubers sectors

in Africa”. Beneficiaries are: Benin, Cameroon, Côte

d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Rwanda’s Green Growth and Climate

Resilience Strategy

Rwanda has taken a series of important steps to

promote businesses’ engagement in environmental

issues. The National vision 2020 aims to transform

Rwanda from a subsistence economy based on

agriculture to a middle income country. Sustainable

environmental and climate change management are

acknowledged as pivotal cross-cutting areas to the

realization of this aspiration. To that end, the

Government developed the Green Growth and Climate

Resilience (GGCR) National Strategy for Climate Change

and Low Carbon Development.

However, Rwanda is still highly dependent from the

intense use of non-renewable resources for energy. As

part of the objective of enhancing the competitiveness of

selected value chains, the Project is undertaking an

activity in support of the potato value chain in Rwanda.

The aim of the activity is to catalyze sustainability

measures and energy efficiency drivers in food value

chains in Rwanda, using crisp manufacturers in the Irish

potato value chain, as an entry point. Both the public

sector, mostly SMEs supporting agencies, and the

private sector stakeholders - including potato processing

SMEs, potato collection centers and farmers’

organizations - have been involved in this process.

Project Contributions

Contributing to Rwanda’s efforts, a series of

interventions for effectively promoting sustainable food

value chains in Rwanda have been planned, focusing

mainly on building the capacity of processors and

collection centers in the following areas: (i) adapting

sustainability tools to attract investment - prioritizing

public investment support in sustainable packaging

technologies; (ii) promoting a unified sustainability

vision and strategy for farmers and small food

processors partnership; (iii) developing policies that

E D I T O R I A L

(To be continued on page 2)

ACP-EU COMMODITIES

PROGRAMME

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

specifically target the small food companies and that

prioritize convergence between sustainability and

competitiveness; (iv) establishing dialogue platforms

between research institutes, farmer and processors for

sustainable seed systems; (v) moving initiatives that

support innovation and sustainability beyond dialogue on

productivity, through Agricultural Innovation Platforms

(AIPs).

Unfortunately, along the potato chain, value is often

lost or destroyed. In order to support small crisp

manufacturing companies and workshop participants

applying a sustainability lens to business models between

farmers and small food companies, the stakeholders have

been receiving support in, for instance: recycling waste peel

into animal feed or fertilizers and waste cooking oil into

electricity, soap or biodiesel; upscaling good agricultural

practices with farmers to address premature harvesting and

mix variety production; branding on sustainability;

investments in innovation; and products development.

Next Steps

A possible next step could be to increase the ownership

of the GGCR Strategy by institutions, from national to local

level. Capacity building,

provided by the Rwanda

Environment Management

Authority, needs to be up

s ca l ed f r om cen t ra l

government down to

grassroots level. In addition,

a next step for research is to

test and introduce varieties

that are better suited for

processing activities, while

continuing to seek ways of

reducing the number of

years it takes for a potential

variety to be tested and

listed.

Since the Roots and

Tubers Project targets also

cross sectoral collaboration

for the potato value chain -

including downstream actors

-, possible support may

concern ensuring the

i n c l u s i o n o f p o t a t o

processors in the AIPs,

usually left out parties in the

dialogue.

needs, as well as investment

opportunities.

The overal l picture

brought out by these contribu-

tions is one of a dynamic and

modernising ACP agriculture.

Our agricultural entrepreneurs

are seen to be receptive to

change and news ways of doing

business. There is an eagerness

to transform subsistence activi-

ties and family farms into small

but modern and efficient pro-

duction units from which

women, youth and male farm-

ers alike can draw a decent liv-

ing. This is precisely what the

policy “New approach to ACP

Group support for the develop-

ment of agriculture value

chains”, endorsed by the ACP

Council of Ministers during its

105th session last May, seeks

to nurture.

We commend our part-

ners for their technical inputs,

reiterate our support to actors

of these important ACP agricul-

tural value chains, and hope

you will enjoy the reading of

this Newsletter.

Viwanou GNASSOUNOU

Assistant Secretary General Sustainable Economic Development and Trade

(From page 1)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

Family agriculture is business: Farmer Business School (GIZ)

Cocoa is a major agricultural product

and export for Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana,

Cameroon, Nigeria and Togo. Over three

million smallholdings produce 73% of world

cocoa. Yields remain far below the

possibilities of recommended techniques.

Reasons include the lack of technical and

entrepreneurial skills, difficult access to input

markets as well as to technical and financial

services. Incomes average 1.50 USD per day

and person. Additional agricultural income is

derived mainly from food products. In

addition, dependence on cocoa as source of

income and price volatility leads to

impoverishment, malnutrition and social

problems such as child labor.

To improve yields and revenue, and

meet SDGs, the Cocoa-Food Link Programme

(CFLP) is implemented as part of the ACP-EU

Commodities Programme by German

International

Cooperation

(GIZ), with co-

funding by the

EU. The

approach builds

on the

experience of

the Sustainable

Smallholder

Agri-Business

Programme.

Enhancing

business skills

of male and

female cocoa

smallholders is

one of the

result areas of

CFLP

Twenty-eight partners including private

ones such as OLAM, ECOM, as well as public

ones like the Ghana Cocoa Board or ANADER

in Côte d’Ivoire mobilize over 700 specialized

FBS trainers. They have trained more than

400,000 smallholders (28% women) since

2010. Under CFLP, over 130,000 smallholders

(33% women) benefitted from such training.

Over 90,000 received complementary training

on GAP for cocoa and food production.

Subsequent to training, the following changes

and impacts are observed:

• 57% of FBS graduates opened

saving accounts.

• 41% received loans for cocoa or

food production.

• 45% of trained groups

registered producer

organizations

• 6 new producer federations

(>10,000 members) emerged

from FBS trainings

Twelve other programmes of

German Development Cooperation have

adapted FBS. 35 FBS curricula are

implemented in 15 African countries for a

total outreach exceeding 800,000

smallholders. With support from the

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and

Development (BMZ), the FBS Advisory Facility

has been established. The Facility assists

interested programmes, organizations and

enterprises to introduce the approach and to

customize it to other production systems.

In the framework of CFLP, the successes

with FBS have led to the development of the

Cooperative Business School. The approach is

currently being rolled out in the five partner

countries and covers the following topics:

Markets & value chains;

Strategic & financial management

Business & technical services

Economics of services

Development of Business plans;

Contracts and tender procedures

Mobilizing working capita

(To be continued on page 4)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

Farmer Business School Approach

The CFLP uses the Farmer Business School (FBS) approach which has been developed in 2010

with local partners for large scale implementation. FBS covers investment strategies and

management skills to use production factors and viable Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) of

cocoa and food products. Participants discover during five subsequent mornings that agriculture

does not necessarily equate with poverty, and learn how to develop it as a business.

To this effect, they learn about:

Principles of farming as a business and units to plan and evaluate

Human nutrition and farm management for enough food and a balanced diet

Economics of cocoa and food products

Investment strategies based on cost-benefit analysis to diversify and increase incomes

Financial management, savings and credit

Benefits from quality cocoa and organization

Planning investments in replanting of cocoa

FBS training complements agricultural extension and financial services for agriculture

(From page 3)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

Pacific Coconut Value Chain Workshop provides direction for industry development (SPC)

Coconuts have a unique potential to sustain

healthy rural livelihoods throughout the Pacific

islands and can provide a key driver for em-

ployment, incomes and growth in the region. These

were some of the key messages that came out

from the Coconut Industry Development for the

Pacific Project (CIDP) Pacific Coconut Sector Value

Chain workshop which was held on July 11-13th,

2017 in Nadi, Fiji.

The workshop brought together 51 partici-

pants, private and public sector as well as farmer

representatives, from 13 Pacific Island countries,

as well as key representatives from South Asia and

the Caribbean – whose participation was facilitated

through the Coconut Industry Development for the

Caribbean project. Development partners, the Aus-

tralian Centre for International Agricultural Re-

search (ACIAR), the Asian & Pacific Coconut Com-

munity(APCC) and the International Fund for Agri-

cultural Development (IFAD) and Pacific Trade In-

vest (PTI) also participated in the dialogue. The

workshop was officially opened by the Ambassador

of Samoa to the European Union, His Excellency

Ambassador Fatumanava Pa’olelei Luteru, who also

chairs the ACP Investment and Private Sector Sub-

Committee.

During the three days, a wealth of informa-

tion was shared related to the status of the coco-

nut industry in the various countries represented.

The opportunities and constraints for selected co-

conut products and sub-sectors were also discus-

sed. Participants were briefed on a recent study

undertaken through CIDP that provided global

and regional perspectives of the industry. Guest

speakers from the international coconut industry

provided case studies of success and lessons

learned to enrich the participants’ experience

and provide some inspiration as to what is pos-

sible.

Workshop participants were part of a pro-

cess to identify key training needs, research

needs and investment opportunities. CIDP will

be considering some of these under the current

support programme and will work with stakehol-

ders to identify finance opportunities to address

the rest.

The programme also allowed for discussion

and endorsement of key product/sub sectors

and value chains to be analysed under the cur-

rent CIDP programme.

Participants of the workshop were introdu-

ced to the terms of reference for the Pacific Va-

lue chain Working group and elected two addi-

tional members from the forum (one private

sector representative and one farmer organisa-

tion representative). This group will guide for-

mulation of the Value Chain Road Maps on the

sub sectors identified by the workshop: Virgin

coconut oil (VCO) for local markets; high grade

copra oil for export markets; yoghurt/ice cream

products for local/tourism market and timber.

(To be continued on page 6)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

Caribbean forming Alliances for Action (ITC/CARDI)

The coconut global value chain (GVC) is

at a critical stage, characterized by increasing

demand from global markets and a stagnant

supply base in danger of collapse in coconut

producing countries. In the Caribbean, coconut

value chains have mirrored these global market

trends. The regional trade of coconuts and co-

conut products has grown by approximately

230% since 2008 (UNComtrade, 2015). While

demand is growing, restricted supply is a key

constraint for industry growth in the region.

In order to bridge sustainability and in-

clusiveness ‘gaps’ faced by vale chain opera-

tors, project partners in Jamaica, Dominican

Republic (DR) and Guyana are currently imple-

menting a baseline assessment characteriza-

tion. This has been developed to understand

and monitor smallholder coconut farmers’ deci-

sion making models and priorities. The results

of this activity will help project partners – in-

cluding value chain operators and policy ma-

kers - make informed and evidence based deci-

sions that support coconut sector development,

as well as help in the selection of farmers who

will benefit from the technical capacity building

training package.

The preliminary results of the characteri-

zation from DR indicate that even though far-

mers’ main source of income is coconut far-

ming, the production of other food crops makes

an important contribution to farmer’s income

generation activities. With regards to income

allocation, 50% of farmer income goes to food

expenditures and roughly 20% to farming in-

vestments, whilst the balance goes to educa-

tion, health, taxes, family well-being and sa-

vings. The results also suggest that pest and

A ‘Coconut Product Marketplace’

where participants had the opportunity to

display their products and participate in

social events (including some coconut the-

med activities such as “coconut 10 pin bo-

wling”) provided yet another opportunity

for participants to network and share in-

formation.

Following on from the workshop the value

chain road mapping is now underway and

technical assistance will soon be contrac-

ted to develop training modules relevant

to various coconut sub sectors and value

chain segments.

Financed under the EU-funded intra-ACP

Commodities Programme managed by the

ACP Secretariat, the objective of the Coco-

nut Industry Development for the Pacific

Project (CIDP) is to contribute to increa-

sing food availability and consolidate small

producers’ income by improving the com-

petitiveness of small Pacific producers en-

gaged in the coconut value chains. The

CIDP is managed by the Pacific Community

(SPC) with a budget of EUR 4 million to

the benefit of the 15 ACP Pacific Member

States, namely: Cook Islands, Federated

States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall

Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New

Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor

Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. A simi-

lar project is being implemented under the

intra-ACP Commodities Programme in the

Caribbean by ITC and CARDI who sent re-

presentatives to the Pacific workshop to

share their own experience of the sector

and in project implementation.

(From page 5)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

ced coconuts

in Jamaica and

implement bu-

siness collabo-

ration frame-

works with

producers and

processors in-

volved in A4A.

In order

to ensure that

current sector

challenges are

addressed,

A4A project

partners are currently working on providing

farmer access to high-quality planting mate-

rial and the establishment of Integrated Pest

Management (IPM) plots. One nursery has

been established in Western Jamaica and

another one in Hope Estate, Guyana.

Additionally, ITC is mediating an agree-

ment between CARDI and the Ministry of

Agriculture in Dominican Republic with the

objective of disseminating production inten-

sification methods and good agricultural

practices through the establishment of nur-

series and IPM plots, a coconut germplasm

bank, producer technical advisory and sup-

port services, etc. The project is also car-

rying out technical capacity building trainings

for improving the competitiveness of coconut

agro-processors. The training package focu-

ses on methodologies to improve enterprise

competitiveness by reinforcing efficiency in

critical operational processes with a delibera-

te focus on complying with customer and

buyer requirements.

Next Steps

The data and outputs generated by the

GVC analysis, value chain workshops, NSP

discussions, country roadmaps, and charac-

terization exercise are inputs for commercial-

ly driven Alliances to generate knowledge

and understanding about the sector, as well

as to ultimately guide the development of

each Alliance through business models inclu-

ding lead firms and finance institutions. The

selection of Alliance cluster areas has been

done in the three countries and the local al-

liances will soon be operational through the

disease are the main issues faced by far-

mers, followed by commercialization

concerns and subsequently transportation,

price fluctuation and cash flow issues while

waiting for harvest. Consequently, the type

of support these farmers would like to have

concerns mostly of financial services, access

to planting material and training in agri-

cultural practices. The preliminary results of

the characterization are in line with the fin-

dings in the Global Value Chain analysis and

the value chain workshops implemented

with public and pri-

vate industry sta-

keholders held in

2016 under the ae-

gis of the project.

Response

The Coconut

Industry Develop-

ment for the Carib-

bean Project pro-

motes coordination

and collaboration

between key natio-

nal and regional

stakeholders along the coconut value chain

in order to address value chain issues by

using the Alliances for Action (A4A) ap-

proach in DR, Guyana and Jamaica. This is

the first time public and private sector re-

presentatives from the region are forming

alliances to unlock sector potential, attract

investments and develop the coconuts sec-

tor in an inclusive and impactful manner

with the financial support of the EU and ACP

Group, and technical support of ITC and

CARDI.

At the global level, the Alliance has

identified bottlenecks and opportunities for

sector development through the establish-

ment of National Stakeholder Platforms

(NSPs) and roadmap development. At the

local level, a series of business-driven Al-

liance clusters are bringing together private

and public sector actors who are investing

in coconut sector development. For instan-

ce, Grace Kennedy Food Limited - one of

the largest single-entity food manufacturers

in the Caribbean - has recently committed

to collaborate with Alliance partners to ex-

pand channels of utilization of locally sour-

(To be continued on page 8)

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A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

selection of farmers involved and the

implementation of the capacity building

training packages. Additionally, project

partners will focus on designing and

adapting financial instruments that res-

pond to coconut industry actors’ needs

in the Caribbean.

In this manner, the A4A process

aims to generate commercially driven

locally owned solutions through a part-

nership system for value chain opera-

tors, from farmers to end buyers, with

scalability at large.

A C P - E U C O M M O D I T I E S P R O G R A M M E

A joint initiative

Implemented by

ACP Secretariat – Avenue Georges Henri 451, B - 1200 - Brussels, Belgium

email : commodities@acp.int

Tel: +32 2 743 06 00

Fax: +32 2 735 55 73

This publication is an initiative of the ACP Secretariat funded by the European Union . Its content is the sole responsibility of the technical

assistance team.

(From page 7)