SPS Capacity Building in Africa to Mitigate the Harmful Effects of Pesticides Residues in Cocoa and to Maintain Market Access

DURATION:
 Two years
LOCATION:
 CAMEROON, CÔTE D’IVOIRE, GHANA, NIGERIA, TOGO
NATURE OF PROJECT:
 Market Access and Market Development
ESTIMATED TOTAL COST:
 US$ 6,264,109
STDF/WTO GRANT:
 US$ 593,460
CO-FINANCING:
 US$ 3,343,700
COUNTERPART FINANCING:
 US$ 2,326,949
PROJECT EXECUTING AGENCY (PEA):
 Fonds Interprofessionnel pour la Recherche et le Conseil Agricole (FIRCA), Côte d’Ivoire
PROJECT SUPERVISORY BODY:
 International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)
PROJECT STARTING DATE:
 January 2011
COMPLETION DATE:
 December 2013

 

Brief Description

The main activities of the project will include creating awareness among cocoa farmers and other stakeholders along the cocoa supply chain about SPS standards in cocoa;  enhancing the capacity of relevant stakeholders to apply the rational pesticides use component of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Warehousing Practices (GWP); enhancing the institutional capacity in-country to monitor and enforce adherence to SPS standards in cocoa; and strengthen regional collaboration to support institutional capacity in individual countries to apply SPS standards in cocoa.

 
Project Objectives

The overall objective of this project is to maintain market access for cocoa beans from Africa through capacity building in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS), in order to produce good quality cocoa that complies with the relevant international regulations and legislations on pesticides residues and other harmful substances.

 
Implementation Status

Project implementation under the STDF grant was completed by 31/12/2013. The project results and dissemination workshop was organized in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 10-13 December 2013 and the presentations and report can be viewed on the project website.  21 recommendations were agreed to further strengthen the results of the project in addressing cocoa SPS issues.

 

The five countries involved in the project expressed a strong willingness to pursue the efforts initiated during the project.  They decided to collaborate, exchange and share experiences and to meet on regular basis to review progress. A website has been set up (www.icco.org/sps) to present information on project activities and SPS regulations.