Post harvest handling and export market quality issues for organic products in Africa

Bo van Elzakker Agro E L i Bolk Institute, the Netherlands A Eco Louis B lk I tit t th N th l d

Background
Twenty years of experience, somewhat in Central America, Asia, but mainly in Africa More experience in raw materials and its quality i i i l di li than processing because it is not an easy thing Always demand driven, knowledge of the market driven Products: cocoa, coffee, instant coffee, tea, cashew, cotton, sesame, chillies, fresh and dried fruits, , , , , canned 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 by farmers themselves Processing in central, often more urban locations i i l f b l i Pulping, fermentation, washing, drying, bagging in the case of cocoa, coffee cocoa Cleaning in the case of oilseeds, cereals, beans Sizing pre-packing in the case of fresh fruits Sizing, Fruit drying, juicing, fruit canning High care fruit salads or fish fillets
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Primary product handling

African smallholder farmers can produce good quantities of good quality raw materials for a competitive price, meeting various certification requirements. What i needed: h is d d
Assistance, in-house or external, NGO or commercial Price incentive Pi i ti Training, experimentation, learning Organisation to reach economy of scale
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Training topics
Good farming practices p g, post-harvest practices p Proper harvesting, p International quality requirements, HACCP g Measures to avoid microorganisms
Salmonella, E. coli Aflatoxin, ochratoxin

Packaging The economic benefit of quality

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Value addition without processing

Better quality g p , , grading g Harvesting ripe, cleanliness, g Certifications gg q Bigger quantities Other services like storage, flexibility

Problem areas
Toxins
Due to adverse growing, ripening, harvesting, storage conditions Zero tolerance in EU

Storage facilities Accidents during transport Fumigation i th F i ti in the port t Irregularities due to lack of awareness and quality management g Can be done, expert input required, local service providers, do entrepreneurs want to use and pay for it
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Processing
Interesting from socio-economic point of view g p Industrialisation: minimum size of operation One comment
Preferably not in the countryside Power, water, telephone, roads, repairmen, educated staff Ce t a sed, u ba sett g Centralised, urban setting Still generation of employment but not for farmers Long, bad history, many failures L b d hi f il Supply driven NGOs are not entrepreneurs Requirements on the entrepreneurs
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Second comment

Particular troubles in
Comparative advantage? Sourcing sufficient volumes of certified organic raw materials at the time of order Sourcing-importing organic processing ingredients like organic sugar Importing modern packaging machines & materials (changing consumer preferences) Th need for energy efficient, modern equipment The df ffi i d i Limited know how in food processing technology I t d i a HACCP system ( Introducing t (mentality) t lit )
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Some considerations
For starters it takes up to five years to develop and commercialise export volumes of a finished product, attaining the right quality, and certifications necessary to enter the market. But markets are ever changing k h i Anticipating and planning for changes in market and consumer preferences requires a fast response d f i f t and flexible producer conditions.
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The canned pineapple 1

Shortage in the European market, lack of g g p , good product, there was one p , expensive Asian product with rusting cans. A canning company in Africa showed an interest to do it. Had been producing for the local market Invited to Biofach to make contacts. Saw competition, saw prices, was lot 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 new land, one year conversion only. Supplier of cans stopped supplying. Problem with quality of the cans, S li f t d l i P bl ith lit f th seam breaking. Quite some production thrown away. Made first batch Went back to the next Biofach with first cans, provisional label ne t ith cans pro isional
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The canned pineapple 2

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 supplier had h d not emerged). d) 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. Need to introduce HACCP system.
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The canned pineapple 3

Contract made. Labels sent. Pre finance sent. Change of factory manager Problems in getting pineapples to factory because of bad road. Despite EU funds available, slow repair of road Delay in making the order (past Christmas) One container shipped, stuck in port. Late arrival, some quality problems (label) arrival Importer mad, had to cancel contracts, slow sales, no repeat order Farmers organized, sell their pineapples as a group locally, and make be e o ey. better money. Also, because of farmer organization, got borehole in the village. Done a lot on farming practices, firewood planting Impact assessment reveals that farmers spent more money on cigarettes. cigarettes Project a success?
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