Stakeholders in the horticulture sector are decrying frequent regulatory changes being instituted by the European Union that is undercutting smallholder farmers’ income.
Speakers at the 24th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMSA) Summit in Nairobi, horticulture exporters termed the frequent changes as impediment to trade.
According to Oluwaseun Rasheed, Managing Director SOAK Farms, the frequent changes in export requirement for horticulture such as certification, have led to duplications of requirements as well as additional costs to horticulture exporters.
“Each certification, depending on your certifying body can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on certification and that is excluding the cost of infrastructure that you need for that certification,” said Rasheed.
Data from COMESA indicates that horticulture value chain is one of key sectors in the economic bloc with exports to EU valued at $3.37 billion annually and employing millions of smallholder farmers in the 21 countries.
However, to address rising cost associated with certifications, smallholder farmers are being urged to join cooperatives in order to improve their chances of accessing the EU market.
Additionally, exporters have been challenged to adopt smart technologies to improve export quality.
“Dealing with perishable products, it requires having smart and efficient technologies. Without efficient sand smart technology set up, it is quite difficult to be competitive in the perishable products industry,” said Tewodros Zewdie, EHPEA Executive Director.
Stakeholders are now calling upon the two regions to engage in setting up modalities that will streamline certification processes as well as build capacity for exporters.
“We would need training on the parts of farmers so that they are aware of the ever changing market requirements because the conditions keep changing by the day,” noted Janet Odongo, KEPHIS representative.
Top export destinations in the EU for COMESA countries include the Netherlands, France, and Germany.
