26th -28th July 2017 - BIRCHWOOD HOTEL, JOHANNESBURG

The Tripartite Private Sector Platform (TPS) composed of the COMESA Business Council (CBC), East African Business Council (EABC) and Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI), in partnership with Phyto Solutions is convening the Tripartite Local Sourcing for Partnerships - Buyers- Supplier Training from the 26th to 28th July 2017.

The Project is focused on strengthening the inclusiveness of SMEs into value chains at firm and sectoral level in Africa. Firstly, through training on the Global Food Safety Management Systems, and secondly through facilitating the integration of the SMEs into the competitive supply chain network of corporate companies and key regional value chains.

Market access projects for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to enhance intra-regional trade
Many African countries fail to access South African market because South Africa has well-developed standards and monitoring authorities and institutions. Furthermore, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) barriers to trade have increased due to inadequate or outdated information of pests and diseases present in the exporting countries, which may result in incomplete pest risk analysis by the importing country for that particularly plant commodity of concern.

The COMESA Business Council (CBC) Local Sourcing for Partnerships Project (LSP-Project)

The Local Sourcing for Partnerships Project (LSP) is an initiative and ongoing project by the COMESA Business Council (CBC) designed to build capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in the COMESA region. The Project focuses on SME’s and supplier training in the important aspects of compliance to food safety and quality standards in the agro-sector. It also provides a platform where food business operators and SME’s can market themselves.  Beneficiaries receive market information and most importantly an opportunity to link and form partnerships as suppliers with national and international retailers and hotels. 

A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON DEVELOPING VIRUS INDEXING CAPACITY FOR BANANA PLANTING MATERIALS IN MALAWI (LILONGWE, SALIMA AND BLANTYRE, MALAWI) 9-13 DECEMBER 2013

A study using a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to identify and prioritize key sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacity building options and needs for Malawi, was done in May 2012 and identified 16 capacity building options, one of which was virus indexing capacity for planting materials.

BUILDING CAPACITY OF LITCHI PRODUCERS AND EXPORTERS IN MADAGASCAR TO ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE WITH SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES (SPS) MARKET ACCESS REQUIEREMENTS IN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
(2015 and 2016 – MADAGASCAR: Antananarivo, Tamatave, Manakara)

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) supported a bilateral initiative between Madagascar and South Africa that was initiated in 2013 by means of funding additional technical capacity of PhytoSolutions PRA experts to support the two National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) respectively throughout the pest risk analysis (PRA) process and the plant health bilateral negotiations that followed.

A literature review on the possible effects of climate change on plant pests and diseases and the trade in plants and plant products within the tripartite region (EAC-COMESA-SADC)

Climate change is already impacting on phytosanitary systems as recent studies by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and others indicate.  It is expected that the impact of climate change on the capacity of phytosanitary systems will increase in future.