Lucy Namu on 2nd September 2014

A presentation made during the New Zealand and South Africa Trilateral Workshop

by

Food Safety Systems for Export – A case of the

horticultural sub-sector in Kenya

Presentation outline

• General background to horticultural subsector.

• Growth of the industry.

• Structure of industry.

• Lessons learnt.

• Recommendations and way forward.2

General background to the Kenyan horticultural

sub-sector

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Background

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• Up to 80% of rural population is employed in agriculture and its related industries.

• Most growers produce on less than half a hectare.

• Horticulture contributes 36% of Agriculture’s GDP.

• Trade in vegetables about 40 years old

• Exports of beans in pods (BP) and peas in pods (PP) constituted over 30% of total vegetable exports to the European Union in 2011. In 2009-2011 the total tonnage was 68,370.67 Metric tonnes.

Contribution of horticulture to the GDP

MAPS = Medicinal and AromaticPlants

30% constitutes beans and peas in pods

Growth of the industry

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Value of Horticultural Exports 2001 - 2012

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0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

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Horticulture Export Value Trend for the period 2001 to 2012

Flower

Vegetables

Fruits & Nuts

Total

Year

Va

lue

in m

illio

ns

of

KE

S

Strong advantages of the beans and peas in pods

exports• Kenyan beans in pods are of high quality due to

their positive organoleptic attributes. – They soften on steaming

– Don’t have stringy fibrous texture

– Compatible with other vegetables

– They are available all year round

• Strong support on marketing support

• High demand in EU market for produce, they have taken a fairly large proportion of this market; business has been running generally well (until 2013).

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Structure of industry.

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Structure of industry.../2• Producers: Growers mainly small holder

farmers• Middlemen: formalized as suppliers /

marketing agents• Exporter and processors: business entities• Importers: linkage to external market

• CHANGES SINCE 2011:Formalization of supply chain players.

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Components of export assurance system

• Involvement of government with:a. Producers:

– Training in emerging issues and compliance requirements:– Jointly undertaken by the Competent Authorities with

expertise in specific areas– Training in market requirements and technical information

on optimal production

b. Suppliers / marketing agents: registration of individual suppliers/agents– Currently in developing codes of practice

c. Exporter and processors: – Registration of business entities– Obligations to implement contractual farming.

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Components of export assurance system../2

• Involvement of independent verification / audit / sampling plans and laboratories– National monitoring program implemented by

Competent Authority (CA) - sampling plan– Testing - CA– Independent verifications – CA; private food

business operators• Degree and frequency of foreign audit /

testing at borders:– Currently beans and peas in pods under

increased checks at EU DPE

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Components of export assurance system../3

• Importance of supply chain integration:– Provision of information on emerging challenge– Knowledge (legislation, regulations, standards)

and authority to implement appropriate control and verification measure

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Horticulture Competent Authority Structure (HCAS)

Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service:

Chair of NTH and pesticide residue monitoring plan

Horticultural Crops Development Authority:

Enforcement of Good Agricultural Practice and

Training of farmers

Pest Control Products Board:

Pesticide formulation quality monitoring

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute:

Research in “softer” alternatives; Integrated

pest management

Multi-agency system

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Lessons learnt

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• Changes in market regulations (mainly EU) have made increasing challenges in compliance with requirements– Important to improve on knowledge gaps

• Need to develop a robust food safety system involved from primary production to table – Kenyan value chain has been driven towards market / private standard requirements.

• Business entities not always able to invest in improvement of primary production – government could set up incentive schemes for investment

• Robust support system required at primary production level

Recommendations for expanding market

• Understand the regulatory environment that is affecting trade

• Develop a comprehensive system - provide for capacity building especially for small holders.

• Emphasis that the ensuring food safety should be the primary role of food business and producer entities.

• Product diversification– Specific product branding for specific target markets

• Ensure robustness of the food safety control system to provide for continued compliance.

Core principles of a credible export assurance system

• Should be hinged on legislative requirements – evolve legislative requirements - "Due diligence" principle

• Must be transparent, should be auditable and provide for appropriate level of documentation to re-construct a system.

• Ensure operators submit their methods to risk analysis and implement control measures.

• Provide industry with a self assessment system for continuously ensuring compliance. Should be based on sector analysis

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION:

KENYA PLANT HEALTH INSPECTORATE SERVICE (KEPHIS)

P. O. Box 49592-00100 Nairobi, Kenya.Tel: +254-20-3536171 or 3536172

Fax: +254-20-3536175E-mails: lnamu@kephis.orgWebsite: www.kephis.org