Market Access Upgrade Programme

About the project

Country: Kenya

Period: June 2021 – January 2022

Project partner: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Objective: MARK-UP is a regional development initiative that supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East African Community (EAC). It aims to increase exports of agribusiness and horticultural products and promote regional integration and access to the European market across 12 counties of implementation in Kenya. In Kenya, the regional intervention is managed by the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the implementation partner for the Kenya-Partner States Window.

Kenya has yet to fully exploit the high-value market opportunities largely because the food and agricultural commodities often do not meet international standards and other market requirements, and because of the inadequate capacities of Kenyan regulatory institutions to provide proof of conformity to standards and other requirements for the supply of tradable goods. GLOBALG.A.P. therefore partnered with UNIDO to enable expert consultants to work with producers and to support them in complying with regulations.

The increasing globalisation of agricultural markets presents extensive opportunities for Kenya for regional and international trade. The Kenyan agricultural sector contributes 25% to the country’s GDP, and is the source of livelihood for most of the rural population. As such, agriculture is inevitably the key to food security, economic growth, and poverty reduction.

This capacity building project focused on the value chains for mango (for processed food), passion fruit, and groundnuts and macadamia products, and aimed to reach at least 1,500 producers across Nairobi, Bungoma, Busia, Embu, Homa bay, Machakos, Siaya, Uasin Gishu, and Trans Nzoia.

Approach: GLOBALG.A.P. offered Registered Trainer workshops covering the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for fruit and vegetables, the Crops for Processing (CfP) standard, quality management system (QMS), internal inspector training, and group certification (Option 2). This was complemented by expert mentors who provided training on working with producers and supported them in implementing the standards.

SDGs addressed: #3 Good health and well-being and #8 decent work and economic growth

Outcome: A total of 50 producers became Registered Trainers and went on to host independent training courses to support producers in achieving GLOBALG.A.P. certification. Each Registered Trainer coached at least 30 producers. Over time, the Registered Trainers aimed for 20% of the total 1,500 producers reached to acheive certification.