Guaranteeing Quality In Export Produce

S takeholders in the export of agri-foods from Central Africa met recently in Douala to seek ways of conquering the European Union market. A lofty initiative looking at the opportunities such a vast market offers to diverse produce that the sub region can offer. In effect, the European Union has one of largest economic spaces in the world, owing to its population of over 450 million spread across 27 member States. Doing business therein can be very fruitful. It was an experience-sharing platform where participants enlightened each other on what obtains in their res­ pective countries and obviously learned best practices from experts. One thing that emerged from the Douala conclave is the quality of produce that can be placed on the European Union market. Obviously so because when one talks of a marketplace, especially international, the competitiveness of products placed there remains funda­ mental. Reports of this or that product rejected at arrival points in some countries and sent back for want of quality are commonplace. Disdainful and image-bashing indeed for the export nation! This explains why the raison d’être of the Douala meeting was to improve the compliance of the region’s agricultural and agri-food produce with safety standard measures designed to protect human, animal and plant health while regulating international trade. Equipping various public and private sector stakeholders in the production and plant health monitoring chains with an understanding of market requirements and trends is laudable, to say the least. Giving them the tools they need to remain competitive in a highly challenging in­ ternational market is more than crucial. More so with a diversified sector like agriculture which can produce varied competitive export produce for international consumption. While such has the propensity to fetch valuable export earnings, it is also a vital driver of eco­ nomic diversification, job creation and the integration of countries in the Central African region into interna­ tional trade. What changes after the Douala come together should therefore be the preoccupation of all. Cameroon and Africa must face the world with produce that meet in­ ternational standards. With the world now a global village where products no longer know boundaries es­ pecially with the multilateralism policy advocated by several world leaders, countries absolutely need to constantly polish up their export produce in order to stand the competitiveness of the global market. Gua­ ranteeing the indispensable quality begins from the farm with the type of seeds used, farming method and farm inputs. The style of harvesting and how the produce are conserved and processed before exports should not be taken lightly as well. In fact, quantity and quality production is a blend of many interwoven factors that must be taken as such. For instance, an expert at the brainstorming session underlined that there are specific European Union re­ gulations governing the permissible levels of pesticides in agricultural products. There are rodent-born...