Project to improve quality of local fruits and vegetables for exports launched

Tuesday, 1 October 2013 00:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam International markets will soon see improved quality fresh produce from Sri Lanka as a project to uplift the standard of fruits and vegetables for exports was launched in Colombo last week. Funded and conceptualised by the World Trade Organisation Standards and Trade Development Facility (WTO/STDF), the project is titled ‘Improving the safety and quality of Sri Lankan fruits and vegetables’. With a budget of US$ 700,000, the project has dual objectives. The first is to focus on improving the capacity of the stakeholders involved with this regard, including the Department of Agriculture (DOA) extension division, public health inspectors, farmers, and exporters. The second is to arrange a series of networking events to facilitate marketing opportunities for both the farmers and exporters, as improving the quality and safety of fruits and vegetables alone will not increase the income of the two segments. The project will be implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) with the support of a number of other partner organisations. The National partner for the project is the DOA whereas the national coordinator is the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC). Other partnering organisations include the National Agribusiness Council, Sri Lanka Standard Institute (SLSI), Food Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB), and Lanka Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association (LFVPPEA). Although the project commenced on March 2013, it was officially launched on 27 September 2013 and is expected to reach completion by February 2015. The launch event was attended by Ministry of Industry and Commerce Secretary Anura Siriwardena, International Trade Centre Export Quality Management Advisor Ludovica Ghizzoni, National Agribusiness Council Chairman Aruna Weerakoon, CCC Secretary General /CEO Harin Malwatte, Department of Agriculture Director General of Agriculture Dr. Rohan Wijekoon, Seed Certification and Plant Quarantine Centre Director O.P.K. Chandrasiri, Department of Agriculture Director General Rohan Wijekoon, LFVPPEA immediate Past Chairman Sivagnanam Gnanaskanan, and CCC Senior Assistant Secretary General Chandrarathna D. Vithanage. While presenting the project overview during the launch, CCC Senior Assistant Secretary General Vithanage said: “This project is implemented through public private partnership. We are trying to address the lack of high quality and safe fruits and vegetables as such are not available in exportable quantities. This is due to the pesticide issues, poor handling, and lack of awareness and proper management. We are trying to address many of these issues through this project.” He shared that due to the lack of consistency in the quality of fruits and vegetables, the project will focus on a number of areas. According to Vithanage, the project will mainly concentrate on good agricultural practices, pest control management, and capacity building. While seven different types of training programs have been designed for capacity building, he said that senior officials of the Department of Agriculture will undergo a 10 day training program. 20 officials will be trained by a group of international and local consultants. These officials will in turn train second level extension officers who will then train 150 field level agricultural persons. Vithanage added that for the farmers a five day training program has been designed to bring them up to date on the process and procedures that are to be followed to improve the quality and ensure the safety of the yield. Acknowledging that enhancing the availability and accessibility to information regarding the standard is also very important for exporters, he said for this purpose the project has developed a comprehensive website though which information regarding SPS standards will be disseminated. The said website with the address www.spssrilanka.lk was launched at the event was well. Highlighting the activities of the project since its commencement in March 2013, he said a number of events have been completed but mostly it was about bringing all the stakeholders to one page. “During these six months we have complemented a couple of activities. It was mostly about deciding the elements of the project, and getting all the key stakeholders to agree on the same. In addition to this, we (the project partners) have been able to complete the signing of a MoU between the ITC and CCC, and the CCC and DOA. A national steering committee, given responsibility on deciding the way forward, has also been established,” he said.

Despite the project being a rather comprehensive one attempting to address the current issues with regard to quality issues on fruits and vegetables for exports, a number of exporters expressed concerns regarding the link between them and the farmers and the timely availability of information. To this ICT Advisor Ghizzoni assured that a number of events have been planned to establish partnership between the farmer and the exporter. With regard to the timely availability of information she said: “All stakeholders must make it a point to share immediately the information they have. If they don’t do that, it will be challenging to take this initiative forward. Only when they do this we will be able to train certain segments, such as the farmers, to access this information and make of it.”