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EU opens its market to EAC farmers, traders
Products such as avocado from East African region are now being exported to the European market in large quantities. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- The MARKUP programme was established in 2018, in EAC countries with an aim of supporting farmers, cooperatives and agribusiness firms in accessing markets both in the region and outside, by training them in production of quality agriculture products.
More than 500 agribusiness companies in the East African Community (EAC) are set to benefit from the European Union (EU) market that is valued at about Shs8.68 trillion.
Companies and individuals from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania are being allowed to export their products to the EU under the EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP) that was established in 2018.
Speaking at the virtual launch of MARKUP last Wednesday, Mr Jose-Luis Gonzalez, the programme officer of the EU Delegation in Tanzania and EAC, said the EU market is ready to embrace EAC agribusiness products.
The EU and EAC, he said, have had a long time relationship that has enabled them to witness successes as well learnt lessons on what works, and what needs to be tweaked to meet the challenges and opportunities in today’s international trading system.
“We have learnt from decades of trade and development cooperation that the link between increased exports and development is not automatic,” he said.
“We supported the development and use of trade information portals as a tool to streamline export procedures and to reduce the related costs.
Associations in the coffee and horticulture sectors were trained to use the trade portal to assess the value of each step required to export their products,” he added. Mr Gonzalez assured the EAC agribusiness community that markets in EU member states are open because “products such as tea, coffee, spices, and avocado from this region continue to hit the European market in increasingly large quantities.”
“It is crucial that we take account of important developments, such as the potential of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area to boost EAC exports. Environmental sustainability and climate smart agriculture are key to growing agri-exports, as is increasing value addition and facilitating access to appropriate technology,” he explained.
The virtually launched campaign aims at creating awareness on agri-export trade opportunities that have been created by MARKUP.
Through the campaign, SMEs in the agricultural value chain, cooperatives and farmers and government entities in the EAC will continue accessing information and tools on trade.
While officiating the launch, Ms Flavia Busingye, the acting Director for Trade at the EAC Secretariat, called upon the implementers to address the numerous challenges facing the enterprise agriculture sector in the region.2
“These include lack of access to market information, including on standards and quality requirements; cumbersome and sometimes costly customs procedures and poor connectivity. The scale and impact of these challenges rises exponentially when it comes to accessing markets outside the EAC,” she said.
She said their goal is transforming EAC into a sustainable lower-middle income region by 2030.
Mr Max Middeke, the deputy EAC programme manager of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), said they will in the campaign highlight success stories of SMEs and producers that have gained new skills through the training conducted under the programme.
“In all these interventions, MARKUP has acknowledged the barriers that women and young people face in their efforts to access export market opportunities. We have taken steps to document critical barriers and come up with practical ways to bring women and young people on board,” he said.
GIZ, he said, has since 2018 supported the harmonisation of standards and sanitary and phyto sanitary measures to ensure that they mirror the safety and quality requirements of food products in the EU. “We have been privileged to bring all the different actors in MARKUP together, ensuring that all the activities contribute to a strong private sector, able to take advantage of market opportunities in the region, the EU and beyond,” he said.
