GLOBALG.A.P. assessment in Jamaica

About the project 

Country: Jamaica

Period: July 2019 – May 2020

Project partner: Jamaican Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF)

Objective: The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat and MICAF reviewed the effectiveness, cost efficiency, and sustainability of the Jamaican government’s approach to supporting the implementation of the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard. The project aimed to develop a framework for the implementation of the standard, and to support the long-term training of beneficiaries in keeping with the requirements of the standard.

Approach: Joint activities included a desktop review of past projects and an on-site stakeholder consultation with key organizations and beneficiaries of previous initiatives. In addition, the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat reviewed the qualifications of key experts and provided IFA standard training so they can support producers seeking certification. Pre-audit farm assessments were also done to provide insight on the compliance of producers on the way to certification.

SDGs addressed: #17 Parterships for the goals

*The GLOBALG.A.P. Farm Assurer program was succeeded by the Registered Trainer program in 2022.

Outcome

A total of 30 people were trained on the IFA standard and evaluated based on the Farm Assurer* qualification requirements.

Pre-audit farm assessments were used as an opportunity to gather further practical on-site experience and to see how the IFA standard applies in practice on four already certified sites.

GLOBALG.A.P. developed three new G.A.P. in Action videos on post-harvest hygiene, plant protection products, and waste management. In addition, a training concept was developed for use by the key organizations working directly with producers to familiarize them with the G.A.P. methodology and standard requirements.

The final assessment report included recommendations on how to further facilitate GLOBALG.A.P. implementation in Jamaica by making use of different entry tools, directing available funds towards raising awareness, building producer capacities, and improving the institutional framework through the creation of collaboration platforms such as a GLOBALG.A.P. National Technical Working Group (NTWG).