REPORT: Finding an integrated market standard alterna/ve ...€¦ · REPORT: Finding an integrated...

REPORT:Findinganintegratedmarketstandardalterna/veforsmallholderfarmersinSouthAfricaWorkshopheldatSTIAS,Stellenboschon25and26February2016

- CompiledbyAnriManderson(SAFL)

Photo:AsmallholderfarmingtransporBnghisproducetomarketsinMopanidistrict,Limpopo

INTRODUCTION

On 25 and 26 February 2016, the Southern Africa Food LAB (SAFL) in collabora?on with SolidaridadSouthernAfrica,and theWorldWideFund forNature (WWF),hostedaworkshopat theStellenboschIns?tuteforAdvancedStudy(STIAS)inStellenbosch,todevelop:• asetofentrylevelstandardprinciples;and• anintegratedenvironmental,ethical,andsocialmarketstandardforsmallholderfarmers.

Themo?va?on for thisworkshop came fromSAFL’swork in the smallholder sector in the three yearsleadingup to the event. Through the Suppor?ng SmallholderAgriculture (SSA) programmeSAFLhaveworked with retailers and other interested organisa?ons to iden?fy relevant standards that wouldSouthernAfricaFoodLab|REPORT IntegratedSMHFStandardsworkshop Page� of�1 15

facilitateretailerswishingtointegratesmallholderfarmersintotheirvaluechains. Thisworkledtothedefini?on of a specific entry level localg.a.p. standard that was felt could beQer accommodatesmallholderfarmers.

ThisstandardsworkdrivenwithintheSSAprogrammehighlightedtheneedforan integratedstandardand produced some invaluable lessons on how to develop an integrated standard alterna?ve. Anintegratedstandardwouldpreventduplica?onofaudits, reducecer?fica?oncost,andsimplify record-keepingforsmallholderfarmers,whicharesomeofthemainstandardbarrierssmallholderfarmersface.

Consequently,on25and26February2016, theSSAprogrammedesignedacollabora?veworkshoptodevelop an integrated standard alterna?ve. The aQendees consisted of smallholder farmers, marketrepresenta?ves, standard seQers, trainers, assurers, and government representa?ves (see the table attheendofthedocumentforanoverviewofstakeholders).ThisdocumentoutlinesthemaindiscussionsandkeyoutputsoftheFebruary2016workshop.

AGENDA

TIME DAYONE DAYTWO

08:30 Registra?ons -

09:00 WelcomeandcontextseZng Welcomeandoverviewofdayone

09:30 Stakeholderintroduc?ons Presenta?onsfromsmallholderfarmers

10:00 Thedevelopmentoflocalg.a.p. Plenarydiscussions

10:30 Lessonsfromanevalua?onoflocalg.a.p.training&assessments

Drawingoutentrylevelstandardrequirements

11:00 Tea Tea

11:30 ValuablelessonsfromPGS Drawingoutentrylevelstandardrequirements

12:00 IntroducingAgriPlace Overviewoflocalg.a.p.levels

12:30 Re-introducingRuralHorizons Drawingoutsocialandenvironmentalentrylevelrequirements(fromWWF,GRASP,andSIZA)

13:00 Lunch Lunch

14:00 Plenarydiscussion:Whatshouldanentrylevelstandardlooklike?

Reportback

15:15 Tea Tea

15:30 Wrapupandoutlinefordaytwo Wrapup,checkout,andnextsteps

16:00 END END

SouthernAfricaFoodLab|REPORT IntegratedSMHFStandardsworkshop Page� of�2 15

DAYONE:SeSngthescene

Thefirstdaywasgearedtowardssharingsomeofthekeylessonssincethefirststandardsworkshopin2013,andtobringeveryoneuptospeedwithregardstostandarddevelopmentssincethen.

1)Welcome&context-seDngTheSAFLprogrammemanagerforSuppor?ngSmallholderAgriculture(SSA),whohadbeeninvolvedwiththestandardsworkfromthestart,KennethCarden,openedtheworkshopandsetthecontextdrawingontheSAFL’sFoodScenarioswork(hQp://www.thefutureoffood.co.za/)andkeyoutputsofthemarket-related innova?ons of the SSA. He shared certain of the key ques?ons par?cipants raised during theini?alstandardslearningjourney: • Whyarewetryingtoincorporatesmallholderintoretailsupplychains? • Howdoweaddressthequalityofsmallholderproduce? • Howdowedefinetheminimumstandardsforretail?

Fromthisini?allearningjourney,agroupformedtoconsiderfoodsafetystandardsforsmallholderfreshproducesupplytoretail.ThegroupmetduringtwoInnova?onLabsinJulyandOctoberof2013.Ini?allyit was proposed to develop a non-accredited checklist that would incorporate food safety,environmental,andsocialrequirements,butatthesecondworkshop itwasdecidedtouseanexis?ngstandardsframework, localg.a.p.,andtodevelopaneversimplerentry levelversionof it.SPARpilotedthisentry level localg.a.p.amongstsmallholderfarmers inOfcolacoinLimpopoprovince,andtheSAFLassessedthetrainingandassessmentprocesses.

Against this context, the market-related SSA innova?ons project manager, Anri Manderson, set theobjec?vesforthetwodays: 1) Provideanoverviewofstandardsworkcompletedtodate 2) Provideanoverviewofsometoolsthatcanbeusedtorolloutstandards 3) Developmentofasetofentrylevelstandardprinciples 4) Drawingoutenvironmentalandethicalentrylevelrequirements

2)Stakeholderintroduc/onsThe stakeholders accepted these objec?ves and then introduced themselves, their organisa?ons, andtheirworkwithsmallholdermarketaccess(seethetableincludedattheendofthisreportfordetailsonpar?cipants).

3)Standardresearchfindingstodatea.Thedevelopmentoflocalg.a.p.James Lonsdale did a presenta?ons on SPAR’s version of the entry level localg.a.p. standard. Heexplained that they chose to work with the food safety standard first, as it is a non-nego?ablerequirementforcommercialsupplychains.Theystartedworkingonthestandardin2012/3whensomeoftheircommercialfarmershadsmallholderoutgrowerswhorequiredasimplerfoodsafetystandard.

SPARmetwithChris?Venter,aproductdevelopmentexpertfromGLOBALG.A.P.workingspecificallywithlocalg.a.p.,anddevelopedtheentrylevelversionofthelocalg.a.p.standard.JamesandChris?explainedthatsmallholderfarmerscanonlyprogressfromlocalg.a.p.throughtoGLOBALG.A.P.,iftheyformpartof


http://www.thefutureoffood.co.za/

aprogrammeownedbyacompanysuchasSPAR.OtherprogrammeownersincludeShoprite,Massmart,andPick’nPay.

ThevariouslevelsbuildinguptoGLOBALG.A.P.overanexpected?meframeoffiveyearsinclude:• Entrylevellocalg.a.p.(4controlpoints)• Founda?onlevellocalg.a.p.(7controlpoints)• Intermediatelevellocalg.a.p.(8controlpoints)• GLOBALG.A.P.cer?fica?on(16controlpoints)

Formore informa?ononthese levels,visit thewebsite:hQp://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/what-we-do/globalg.a.p.-cer?fica?on/localg.a.p./localg.a.p.-Programs-Available-for-Producers/.

Itisalsopossibletoincludevariousques?onsfromGRASPtolocalg.a.p..GRASPisasocial-orientatedriskassessmentdevelopedtobeaddedontoGLOBALG.A.P..Itwouldalsobepossibletodeveloplocalg.a.p.equivalentlevelsofGRASP.Formoreinforma?ononGRASP,visitthewebsite:hQp://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/what-we-do/globalg.a.p.-cer?fica?on/globalg.a.p.-00001/GRASP/.

localg.a.p.complianceofagroupcanalsobeassessed ifallowedbytheprogrammeowner. It iscalledop?on 2 cer?fica?on. Although SPAR currently covers the cost of training and assessments, anassessmenttypicallycostsapproximatelyZAR3,500.00.

IntermsoftheirRuralHubprogramme,SPARchoosestoworkwithsmallholderfarmerswhofarmonatleast5haandwhodonotyethaveaccesstoformalmarkets. SPAR’sprocessoftakingfarmerstoentrylevellocalg.a.p.consistsoftrainingandfollow-uptraining,registra?on,self-assessment,pre-assessment,andthenafinalassessmentbyathirdparty.Althoughupto20smallholderfarmershadbeenthroughanumber of trainings, by February 2016, SPAR had only one smallholder farmer who had successfullyreachedcompliancewithentrylevellocalg.a.p..Nevertheless,Chris?Venterreportedthatatotalof100smallholder farmerswere already registeredon various levels of localg.a.p., progressing towards theGLOBALG.A.P.standard.

b.Lessonsfromanevalua/onoflocalg.a.p.trainingandassessmentsSPARinvitedtheSAFLtoassessthetrainingprocessandassessmentthatoneofthegroupsinOfcolaco,Limpopowent through. The SAFL projectmanager, AnriManderson,made a presenta?on on the keyfindingsofthisassessment.ThefullreportisavailableontheSAFLwebsite ,butthemainfindingsofthe1

researchincludedthefollowing:• Clear communica?on of the project, an introduc?on between the par?cipa?ng stakeholders, andclarifica?onoftherolesandresponsibili?esarevitalatthestartofanylocalg.a.p.trainingprocess

• Notallsmallholderfarmerswillbeabletoreachcompliancewithentrylevellocalg.a.p.• Training material, processes, and extension support need to be developed with the smallholderfarmersinmind

• Accesstofinanceneedtobeofferedincombina?onwithlocalg.a.p.trainingprogrammes

Recommenda?onstoprogrammeownersincluded:• Clearly communicate the details of the project, stakeholders involved, and responsibili?es of eachstakeholdergroup,includingtheresponsibili?esofthepar?cipa?ngsmallholderfarmers

TheSAFLwebsiteiscurrentlybeingreorganised.FromApril2016thefullresearchreportwillbeavailableundertheSSAprogramme,on1

thepagefortheFoodSafety,Ethical,andEnvironmentalStandardsproject.


• Workwith farmerswho already have access to finance and some basic farm infrastructure such asfencingandirriga?on(typicallycapitalistsmallholderfarmers),orsupplysmallholderfarmerswithsaidfinanceandinfrastructure(typicallymarket-orientatedsmallholderfarmers)

• Pay the final localg.a.p. assessments or work with third party assessors to reduce the cost ofassessmentstowardsGLOBALG.A.P.

• Co-developcontext-appropriatestandardrequirementsforsmallholderfarmers• Hold training organisa?ons accountable to provide appropriate training materials (including recordkeepingtemplates)andtodesignappropriatetrainingprocesses

• Providecon?nuedextensionsupportfromthefirsttrainingtothefinalassessment

Somebasicrecommenda?onsfororganisa?onstrainingsmallholderfarmersinlocalg.a.p.included:• Trainingmaterialneedsto:- Becontext-specific- Includebasicrecordkeepingtemplates- Uselesstechnicaltermstocommunicatestandardrequirements- Possiblybetranslatedintolocalvernacular

• Trainingshouldbebrokendownintoanumberofsessionsoveraperiodof?mesothatfarmershave?me to come to termswith new learnings, implement them, and be assessed at the next trainingsession

• Trainingneedstobefollowedbycon?nuousextensionsupport,preferablybysomeonewhohasbeensufficientlytrainedinlocalg.a.p.andwhocanspeakthelocalvernacular

4)ToolstorolloutstandardsTheprogressmadeonstandardsworktodate,wasfollowedbythreepresenta?onsoftoolsthatcanbeusedtointroducenewstandardrequirementstosmallholderfarmersandpreparethemforassessments.

a.LessonsfromPGSKonradHauppleisch,ManagerandLeadTrainerattheIFOAMAcademy,gaveapresenta?ononOrganic3.0 (hQp://www.ifoam.bio/en/organic-policy-guarantee/organic-30-next-phase-organic-development)and within that context explained how PGS could be useful for developing a smallholder entry levelstandard.

Photos from leN to right: Konrad presenBng Organic 3.0 and explaining the constraining nature of addiBonalstandards;thestakeholderslisteningtoKonrad’spresentaBon

Konrad’smainmessagesincludedthatthegroupshould:


http://www.ifoam.bio/en/organic-policy-guarantee/organic-30-next-phase-organic-development

• not develop yet another new standard and add to the myriad of standards already constrainingmarketaccessforsmallholderfarmers,butinsteadfocusonintegra?on

• developanintegratedstandardalterna?vethattrulyincreasedmarketaccessforsmallholderfarmers,andnotanotherstandardthatfurtherconstrainedtheiraccess

He thus also focused on the importance of incremental development and explained that cer?fica?ondoesnothave tobe theendgoal if the farmerhasa rela?onshipwithhis/hercustomers,but thatanentrylevelstandardcanbeusedtointroducegoodagriculturalprac?cestosmallholderfarmers.

Focusing on the IFOAM sustainability flower, he also explained the importance of true cost pricing offood. He explained that conformity systems not only start from the assump?on that people are notcomplying and should thus not be trusted without a cer?ficate, but make it difficult for farmers tocomply.Insteadhepromotedasystemthatstartsfromtrustandthatsupportsfarmerstoimprovetheirprac?cesincrementally.

Figure:TheIFOAMPrinciplesforBestPracBcesinAgriculture&ValueChains(i.e.thesustainabilityflower)


Duringtheques?onsessionarerKonrad’spresenta?on,Chris?Venterexplainedthat localg.a.p.allowsfor consulta?veassessments, if theprogrammeowner requests it.Apar?cipantwanted toknowhowriskismi?gatedthroughPGSsystemsandKonradexplainedthatthroughcompletetransparencytrustisearnedandbecauseof thestrongsocial systemofpeer review, risk ismi?gated.Healsosaid that thePGSframeworkcanbeusedforstandardsotherthanorganicandthatotherfoodstandardshavestartedto borrow the methodology to teach new standards to smallholder farmers. He also named Brazil,Namibia,Uganda,Kenya,andSouthAfrica(MtubtubaandJohannesburg)asplacesweresupermarketshavestartedtoacceptPGSasacrediblemonitoringsystem.TheseretailersnaturallybecomepartofthePGSsystemsastheconsumeroftheproduct.

ArertheworkshopKonradsentaddi?onalkeypointstobeincludedinthisreport:

1)Ablendofthefollowingwillincreasemarketaccessforsmallholderfarmers:• Truealterna?vesupplyandvaluechannels:Chainisreplacedherebythewordchannel,asachaincanonlybepulled,yankedorraQled,andattheendofachainonenormallyfindsalockorashackle.Achaincanalsoonlybepulledinonedirec?on-whichmeansitwillalwaysmovethevaluetowardsthestrongestormorepowerful.

• Aclearcommitmenttosustainability,payingmorethanlipservicetothehealthoftheplanet,people,thesoil,theatmosphere,andthelivingbeingsthatfeedus.

• Asystemthattrulyplacesthefarmerinthecentre.• AsystemthatdoesnotassumethatretailrequirementsarewriQeninstoneandhavetobeobeyed.• Asystemthatdoesnotautoma?callyassumethat“marketforces”areall-powerfulanddomina?ngthesupply “chain” -market forces arepeople,withopinions, beliefs, fears andphobias, and theymakedecisionbasedoninforma?onfedtothembyvestedinterests.Marketforcescanchangeatawhim,andshouldnotdominatethethinkingbeyondthe“forcesofproduc?on”.

2)Theorganicsectorismorethanwilling-underthebannerof“Organic3.0”toengageinconversa?onwithALLstakeholdersinthefoodsystemsinorderfindnewsolu?onstothisplanet’schallenges-buttheorganic sectorcannotbeexpected to lose itselfand itsprinciples in theprocess.Realmodernorganicagricultureisaproduc?onsystemthatsustainsthehealthofsoils,ecosystemsandpeople. Itreliesonecologicalprocessratherthaninputswithadverseeffects.Itcombinestradi?on,innova?onandscienceto benefit all. The organic sector has to be taken seriously as a stakeholder and role playerwith realsolu?ons - solu?ons that are recognisedby the FAO,UNCTAD, theAU, andUNEP, tonamebut a few.Organic con?nues to grow at a rate notmatched by conven?onal agriculture, despite the dismissiveaZtudeofmany.SouthAfricainpar?cularisintheclearminorityintheworldwhenitcomestotakingorganicseriously. TheorganicsectorHASsolu?onsdevelopedoverdecadeswithadeepunderstandingof standards, guarantee systems, conformity assessments and the challenges faced by farmers - theorganicsectorcanbringthattothetable,butneedstoberecognisedandrespectedatthesame?me.

b.AgriPlaceAgriPlace is a dutch online ini?a?ve that aims to simplify standard compliance for farmers. Formoreinforma?on about the product, watch this video: hQps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KzhuHNF1oo.TheEnglishwebsiteisavailablehere:hQps://www.agriplace.com/en/.

Gert-JanLiefferinkandNicoBroersenco-presentedto introducethegrouptothistool,providingsomebackgroundtowhyandhow itwasdevelopedandthentakingthegroupthrougha logged insession,demonstra?ngtheuseofthetool.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KzhuHNF1oo

https://www.agriplace.com/en/

AgriPlacecancombinethevariousstandardsafarmerwishtocomplywithintooneeasydatagatheringandcapturingprocess.Thestepsinclude:1. Choosethestandard2. Collecttherequiredsuppor?ngdocumenta?onanduploadittothewebsite3. AgriPlace thenautofills thecorresponding standardques?onnaires, indica?ngwhichques?ons s?ll

needtobeanswered4. Theremainingques?onsarethencompleted5. AgriPlaceprovidesanoverviewofyourresults6. Anonlinesubmissiontoyourauditoriscreatedandcanbeshared7. Prepara?onfortheauditandcer?fica?onprocess

AgriPlace also provides a smartphone applica?on onwhich data can be addedwhilst offline. Data isuploadedandsyncronised to the farmersprofilewhen internetconnec?on isavailableagain.The toolcan also easily be translated into any language, provided that the standards are available in thoselanguages.Farmersownthedataandchoosewhotheywould like toshare itwith.The informa?on issharedonasecureserver.

Farmersneedtoapplyforasubscrip?on,whichwillcurrentlycostapproximatelyR3000perfarm.Ideallythetoolcanbemadeavailabletosmallholderfarmersforareducedfeeorthefeecanbecoveredbyalocalg.a.p.programmeownerifitistobeusedforsmallholderfarmerswishingtocomplywiththeentrylevelstandardandbuilduptoGLOBALG.A.P..

c.RuralHorizonsKarinKleinbooi fromSolidaridadgaveapresenta?ononRuralHorizons,whichhasbeendevelopedbySolidaridadwiththesupportofmanypartnersthatrangefrommul?na?onalcompaniestosmallholderscoopera?ves.SheexplainedthatRuralHorizonscan:• Enable farmers to organise, manage, and control the con?nual improvement of their produc?onsystem,and

• Shareinforma?ontoengagesupplychainactors.

It isnotacer?fica?ontool,butatooltoorganisetheprocessofcon?nual improvement,whichattheendoftheimprovementprocess,canleadtocer?fica?on.Thousandsofproducersofsugarcane,cocoa,coQon,fruit,soy,palm,andlivestockarealreadypar?cipa?ng.SolidaridadiscurrentlydevelopingRuralHorizonstoolkitsforsmallholdersinthefruitindustryandcommercialgrowersinthesugarcaneindustryinSouthAfrica.ItisalsoplannedforvegetablesmallholdergrowersinSouthAfrica.

Avideoonthetoolisavailablehere:hQps://vimeo.com/78282669andthewebsitecanbevisitedhere:hQps://en.ruralhorizon.org/.


https://vimeo.com/78282669

https://en.ruralhorizon.org/

.

Thetoolcanaccommodateentry level localg.a.p.principlesandhelpfarmer improveupwardsthroughthelevelstowardsGLOBALG.A.P..RuralHorizonstoolkitsassistin:1. Understandingthechallenges2. Iden?fyingthepathsmallholderfarmerscanfollowtoaddressthesechallenges3. Planningadjustmentsforcon?nualimprovement4. Providingsupportmaterial5. Monitoringtheprocess

Informa?on generatedby the self assessment is anonymous, but canbe sharedwith awide rangeofvalue chain partners with permission from farmers. Farmers are also able to benchmark themselvesagainst groups and/or aggregated informa?on. The tool supports a learning process and starts thedevelopmentprocessfromwherethefarmercurrentlyis.

Ideallythecostofregistra?onoffarmersonthedataplapormandofrollingoutRuralHorizonscouldbeintegrated intomembership fees. In the case of SIZA in the fruit industry in SouthAfrica, these costscouldforexamplebeincorporatedintothemembershipfees.

5)WrapupofdayoneThedaywasclosedwithaques?ontostakeholdersabouthowtheywouldliketospendthe?meofthelastdayoftheworkshop. Itwasagreedthatasthesmallholderfarmerswere intheroom,theywouldsharetheirrespec?vestoriesandagainstthesedifferentcontexts,thegroupwouldthendrawoutentrylevelsocialandenvironmentalstandardrequirements.

DAYTWO:Rollingupoursleeves

WithanoverviewofstandardsresearchcompletedbySAFLtodateandsometoolstointroduceanewintegratedentrylevelstandardtosmallholderfarmers,thegroupturnedtheiraQen?ontodevelopingaset of entry level standard requirements, and pulled out some entry level social and environmentalrequirementsthatcouldimproveentrylevellocalg.a.p.tobecomemoreholis?c.

1)Smallholderpresenta/onsThedayopenedwithpresenta?onsfromthreesmallholderfarmersandrepresenta?ves:AdamMabunda(Mopani Farmers Associa?on), BreQ Sander (Sugarbush Valley Coopera?ve), and Mthetho Mkungo(Siyavuna).Theygavebriefoverviewsoftheirrespec?vesmallholderorganisa?onsincludingthenumberoffarmers,theorganisa?onalstructure,thetypicallandsizefarmed,cropsproduced,mainmarketsandarrangements,andtheirmarketaccesschallenges.

Thetablebelowcontainsasummaryoftheinforma?onsharedbythesefarmers.


2)EntrylevelstandardrequirementsThe largerstakeholdergroupthenbrokeup intosmallergroupstodiscusstheessen?alprinciplesthatneed to be incorporated into any entry level standard, whether focusing on food safety, social, orenvironmentalissues.Thesmallergroupsreportedbackandthefollowingprincipleswereagreedto:1. Entrylevelstandardsshouldintegratefoodsafety,environmentalandsocialconsidera?onsonbasis

ofminimumrequirements.2. Anentrylevelstandardneedtobecost-effec?veandensuretraceability.3. Entry level standards should be designed to accommodate shared reali?es or group structures,

includingexis?ngorganisa?onalandlegalstructures.4. Entry level standards should be par?cipatory, taking a boQom-up approach to the integra?on of

markets.Peerreviewshouldthusformanintegralpartofentrylevelstandards.5. Entry level standards should allow for incremental development, including, but not limited to

appropriate training materials and process, and the establishment of farmer-to-farmer learningnetworks.

Ques\ons MopaniFarmersAssocia\on(MFA)

SugarbushValleyCoopera\ve Siyavuna

Numberoffarmers Startedwith2500members,buthavelostsome.

600(mostlyfemale)farmersbetween35and79yearsofage.

Organisa\onalstructure

FarmersAssocia?on-organisedintovillageassocia?ons,whichcombinetoformeightareaassocia?ons,whichcombinetoformtheMFA.

Primarycoopera?vesthatcanaccessuptoR350000fromgovernment,lookingtoformsecondarycoopera?vetoaccesssupportfrompartnersthroughregionalprogrammes.Essen?allythreegroupsofcoopera?ves,determinedbylandsize.

Farmerassocia?onsin10ruralcommuni?esthatformsocial-orientatedcoopera?vesandthatformpartofonePGS.

Siyavunatrainsfarmersinagro-ecologicalmethods,andgivethemaccesstomarkets.

Sizeoffarms/plots 1to23ha. a) Peri-urban0.1to2haplotswithmunicipalwaterconnec?onsontheWestRand

b) b)1to15hectareplotswithboreholes

c) 15to100hafarms

250-300msquared.

Crops Mostlyvegetables. a) Vegetablesforfeedingschemefoodparcels

b) Nichevegetableproductsc) Livestock,beans,maize

45typesofvegetablesand8typesoffruit.

Mainmarkets&arrangements

MFAmarke?ngteamwillvisitlocalagro-processors,SPARs,Meyami,andPicknPaystoaskwhattheyneed.Thefarmersalsoselltostreetvendorsandbakkietraders.

a) Governmentcontractstosupplyfeedingschemes

b) Soldatnicheurbanmarkets,smallretailers

c) DeliveriestoNFPMs

Siyavunawilltakeanyproducefarmersdeliverandpaythefarmer60%ofthepricepaidbythecustomer.TheseproductsaresoldthroughtheKumnandibrand,whichpromoteslocal,freshproduce.Produceissoldtofleamarkets,convenienceshops,andrestaurants.

Marketaccesschallenges

- PTOissuesthatpreventformalstandardcer?fica?on

- Recordkeepingchallenges- Elderlyfarmerswhowantto

con?nuedoingthingsasbefore

Problemswithfarmerschasingpopularcropsandconsequentwastage.

AlthoughfarmersbelongtoaPGS,itisdifficulttotrackproducefromtheconsumerbacktothefarmertoiden?fywhereanissueoriginated.


Theseprinciplesshouldfeedintotheobjec?vesofanentrylevelstandard,whichshouldtheninformthemethods/prac?ceoffarmingandthemeasurestomonitorsaidprac?ces.

3)Overviewoflocalg.a.p.requirementsandlevelsChris?Venterthenpresentedthelocalg.a.p.principlesandintroducedthegrouptothe11ques?onsofGRASP.Kennethdrewout the social considera?ons in theentry level localg.a.p. andaddedcategoriesfromGRASP for considera?onof anentry level social standard, or social considera?ons that couldbeaddedtolocalg.a.p.entrylevel.Theseincludedconsidera?onsforchildrenwhenworkingonfarms,?merecordingsandworkinghours/breaks.

Shelly Fuller also shared the environmental categories used by WWF when monitoring theenvironmentalimpactofhumanac?vi?es.Theseincludedwasteandpollu?onmanagement,water,soil,biodiversity,andenergy.

Basedon theentry levelprinciples,and thesocialandenvironmental categoriesdrawnoutbyChris?,Kenneth,andShelley,thegroupcameupwiththefollowingconsidera?onsforenvironmentalandsocialentrylevelstandards:

4)DrawingoutenvironmentalentrylevelrequirementsAnentrylevelenvironmentalstandard,orenvironmentalconsidera?onstobeaddedtoentrylocalg.a.p.should monitor the awareness of smallholder farmers of environmental considera?ons and notnecessarily the actual implementa?on (yet). The knowledge of the value of good environmentalapproaches should be tested. Some other important considera?ons for entry level environmentalstandardsare:• PGSsystemsofpeerreviewandassurance• Normsandrecommenda?onsforgoodprac?ceandimprovementshouldbeincludedinanassessment• Recordkeepingtemplates/checklists• Riskawarenessandmanagement,includingpriori?sa?on

Photos:Agroupofstakeholdersdrawingouttheenvironmentalstandardrequirements

In terms of the categories used by WWF, the following could stand as entry level environmentalrequirements:

WasteandpolluBonmanagement• Compliancewithminimumkeylegisla?onforhandlingofchemical,water,andsolidwastesSouthernAfricaFoodLab|REPORT IntegratedSMHFStandardsworkshop Page� of�11 15

• Promo?onofreducing,re-using,recycling(i.e.the3Rs)• Chemicals:Promo?onofnaturalpestcontrol&useofregisteredchemicalswithappropriatestorage

Water• Waterregistra?on,licensing,andauthorisa?on(groupcer?fica?onwouldbeaccepted)• Knowledgeofwaterrights• Waterquality(FoodHealth&Safety-FHS)(borehole,municipality,rain-fed)• MonitoringandrecordkeepingofrainfallpaQernsandwateruse• Promo?onofreducing,re-using,recycling(i.e.the3Rs)• Knowledgeofgreywater• Managementofecologicalareasincludingwetlandsandrivers,andthecrea?onofbuffers

Soil• Anawarenessofsoilconserva?on,erosion,run-off(includingrecommenda?onsongoodprinciples)• Anawarenessofcompos?ng,mulching,croprota?on,anduseoflegumes• Tes?ngofsoiliffreelyavailableoraffordable,withthepurposeofinformingappropriatesoilinputs• Promo?onofno?llorlow?ll

Biodiversity• Musthaveabasicfarmmapincludingecologicalareas,naturalresources,explana?onoflanduseandexpansionplans(thiscanberelevantforindividualorcommunityfarmedland)

• InvasiveAlienPlants(IAP)/bushencroachment• Fire• Grazing

Energy• Anawarenessofenergyconsumers:fer?liser;irriga?on(waterscheduling)fromriver/borehole/othersource;agro-processing;supplychain(coldstorage)

• Recordsofactualmonthlyenergyuse• Promo?onofrenewablesourcesincludingmanualpumping

5)DrawingoutsocialentrylevelrequirementsTheGRASPpointsshouldbeusedtoinformanentryleveladdontolocalg.a.p.Similartotheentrylevelenvironmental standard, the social entry level standard should also monitor the awareness ofsmallholderfarmersofsomesocialconsidera?onsandnotnecessarilytheactualimplementa?on(yet).Smallholderfarmersshouldalsobeallowedtoexplainhowtheyimplementcertainrequirements,eventhoughthesemynot(yet)berecorded.

Smallholderfarmersshouldbeawareofatleastthefollowing:• Allminimumrequiredsocialandlabourprac?ces(theymustalsobeabletoexplainlabourstructures)Thefollowingshouldbeimplemented:• Basichygienerequirements• Firstaidmaterialandtrainingappropriatefortaskonthefarm• Atransparentcommunica?onsystemwithworkers-complaints/grievanceprocedures• Verbalworkagreementswithworkers• Proofthatthereisnodiscrimina?onagainstworkers(consideringgenderandimmigra?onissues)• Payslipsthatincludethenumberofhoursworked


• Awayofmonitoringworkersbetweentheagesof15and18years.Theymaynotbeforcedtoworkandtheirhoursneedtobecarefullymonitored.

Photos:Agroupofstakeholdersdrawingoutthesocialstandardrequirements

TheserequirementsshouldbelinkedtoaQualityMonitoringSystem(QMS)thatinturnshouldbelinkedtoagroupgovernancestructure.AtentryleveltheQMSneedstobethoroughlyexplainedandrecordsshouldbekeptasthefarmerprogressesthroughthelevelstowardsmorestringentsocialrequirements.

6)Check-outThe two dayswere drawn to a close by stakeholders sharingwhat they foundmeaningful during theworkshop,andwhattheirnextstepswouldbe.Thetablebelowcontainsthesecomments,astheyofferasummaryofthekeyshirsbroughtaboutbytheworkshop.Thestakeholders’names,affilia?ons,emailaddresses,meaningfulexperiences,andnextstepsarecontainedinthetablebelow.

NAME ORGANISATION&ROLE

EMAILADDRESS MEANINGFULEXPERIENCE NEXTSTEPS

AdamMabunda MFA-farmer [email protected] Diversegroupofstakeholderswithobjec?vetohelpsmallholderfarmersinaverydedicatedway-peoplepresentedwithpassion.

TomakeotherMFAfarmersawareofwhatIhavelearnedhere.

AdrianBailey EXETER [email protected] Gratefulforsharingsomuchduringtheweek.ReminderofPGSsystemsandpossibilitytohavelegalins?tu?onsinformit.

Takingengagementwithfarmersanddifferentcoopera?vestoworkinColumbiawithdairyfarmers.

AnriManderson SAFL-projectmanager

[email protected] Facilitator.

ArminRoggendorf AfriTrade [email protected] Hadtoleavebeforecheck-out.

AudreyWainwright

PGS-SA-BONMPGSmanager audrey@bryanstonorganicmar

ket.co.za

Hearingfromthefarmers,energy,tension,collabora?on.

SharinglessonsaboutBONMPGSwiththoseinterestedinit.

BoudewijnGoossens

Solidaridad-Director

[email protected]

Notrecorded. Notrecorded.


mailto:[email protected]


BreQSander Avrivival-farmerandentrepreneur

[email protected] Marketsareactuallyalsolookingtoengagewithsmallholderfarmers.

Startengagingwithretail.

Chris?Venter

GlobalGap-localg.a.p.

[email protected] Howdiversethestakeholderswere,butallwiththepurposeofsuppor?ngsmallholderfarmers.

WorkingwithWWFtodrawenvironmentalprinciplesintolocalg.a.p.

ColleenChennellsIndependentconsultant

[email protected] Hadtoleavebeforecheck-out.

DineoNdlanziREOS-facilitator

[email protected] Facilitator.

DuncanStewart Lima [email protected] OnlyaQendedfirstday.

Gert-JanLieffering AgriPlace-x-farmerandprogrammedeveloper

[email protected]

OnlyaQendedfirstday.

IngeKotze WWF [email protected] Personalconnec?ons,theprocess,andthefacilitator.

Suppor?ngChris?Ventertobringenvironmentalprinciplesintolocalg.a.p.,usingtheentrylevelprinciples.

JacomiendeKlerk CitrusAcademy-training

[email protected]

Howstandardsinthemselvescreateawareness,themomentyouaskaques?on.

TodevelopbeQertrainingandresourcematerialstakingtheentrylevelprinciplesintoconsidera?on.

JamesLonsdale SPAR-freshproduceprocurement

[email protected] Beingchallengedonsomeprescribedideas,butendingupwithcommongoals.

SitdownwithChris?Ventertobuildethicalandenvironmentalpointsintolocalg.a.p.,butfirstneedtogetfarmersthroughregularlocalg.a.p..

KarinKleinbooi

Solidaridad-projectmanager

[email protected] Marketsalsoneedtobelinkedtofarmers.

Pullstandardsworkontosmallholdermarketplaporm.

KennethCarden SAFL-programmemanager

[email protected] Theenergyintheroom. TakingthenextstepswithSPARandtheSAFL.

KonradHauppleisch

[email protected]

Hadtoleavebeforecheck-out.

MarthaneSwart

SandraKruger&Associates

[email protected] Shewantsfarmerstorealisethatwhattheyaredoingisincredibleandthatthestandardsonlyaddtothat-itcouldbeusedtohelpthemdealwithclimatechange.

HappytobepartofSolidaridad’splapormandwanttocollaboratewithothersworkinginLimpopo.

MkhululiSilandela WWF-SA [email protected] Hadtoleavebeforecheck-out.





MthethoMkhungo Siyavuna-farmer,mentor,andentrepreneur

[email protected] Beingabletosharemyfarmersstory,andhavingSPARs?ckwiththeprocessun?ltheend,con?nuingtoanswerourques?ons.Theresilienceofsmallholderfarmers,makingitworkforthemthroughinformalmarkets.

Sharingthenewstandardsinforma?onwiththesmallholderfarmersbackhome.

NicoBroersen AgriPlace [email protected] OnlyaQendedfirstday.

NicoleGobethDiMar?no

Solidaridad-Brazil

Listeningtostories,especiallyfromsmallholderfarmers,andthepoten?alforcross-countrylearning.

IwilltakesomelessonsbacktothefarmersinBrazil.

NigelAlexander SAIGlobal-localg.a.p.training

[email protected] OnlyaQendedfirstday.

RichardBarry Polymorph-sorwaredeveloper

[email protected] OnlyaQendedfirstday.

SandraKruger

SandraKruger&Associates

[email protected] Comingfromabackgroundinstandards,it’sbeenusefultotryanddevelopabasicintegratedentrylevelstandard-tocutalltheaddi?onalrequirementsandarriveatwhatismostimportant.

Tolothowthisentrylevelbuildsandhowwecon?nuetodevelopit,sofarmerscanaccessawholerangeofdifferentmarkets.

SheilaEdwin Treasury-projectmanager

[email protected] Leastlikelypersontobeinthisworkshop,butverygratefultobehere,butI’vegainedmuchneededinsightintothesmallholderagriculturalsector,whichseemstobeincrediblycomplex.

IwillbeabletotellthedonorsthattheFoodLabisapplyingthefundswell.

ShellyFuller WWF-SA [email protected] People’sopennessabouttheirprojects,theirwillingnesstosharechallenges,andtocollaborate.

Tostayclosetotheprocesstotestwhatwehavedevelopedandrefineittosomethingthatworks.

ThulisileKhoza NAMC [email protected] Thevoiceofthefarmers,becausetooorenwesitdownandwemakeplanswithout,butforthem.

Thepromo?onofanintegratedstandardthatisrelevantforsmallholderfarmers.

VictorMmbengwa NAMC [email protected] Thefactthatadiverserangeofstakeholdershadacommonpurposeandthatsmallholderfarmerspar?cipated.

IwouldliketotakewhatI’velearnedintomyresearchgoingforward.M&Ewillalsobeimportanttopreventduplicatedefforts.

VonganiRikhotso WWF [email protected] Thecollabora?onofadiverserangeofstakeholders,bringingdifferentmindframesandskillsets.

Listeningtofarmersmore.


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