South Sudanese small businesses upgrade food safety and quality
The International Trade Centre (ITC) enables food safety officers to provide coaching and advisory services to horticultural managers and food handlers.
Seven South Sudanese small businesses that process fruits and vegetables were trained by food safety and quality advisors to improve their products and comply with relevant standards.
Horticultural managers and food handlers at processing facilities took part in the training, which provided theoretical knowledge and practical guidance over 15 days. Training material covered food safety, good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, good agricultural practices, and hazards analysis and critical control points. The food safety and quality advisors who managed the training sessions had previously been trained by ITC on ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems.
As a result of the coaching sessions, staff from these enterprises showed a much better understanding of food safety risks. They learned the importance of adhering to procedures on food safety, personal hygiene, sanitation, recordkeeping, and documentation. ITC also audited the final mentoring and training. That process showed that six enterprises are now ready to be certified by the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) on food safety standards of good hygiene practices as well as hazards analysis and critical control points.
Moving forward, ITC will ensure that the SSNBS continues to work with the organizations that were trained, so that they implement these standards.
The South Sudan Jobs Creation and Trade Development project implemented by ITC is aiming to enhance food safety and quality standards by sensitizing enterprises on food-related issues. ITC provides technical assistance by supporting the National Quality and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) infrastructure and training a pool of food safety and quality advisors. ITC also builds the capacities of fruit and vegetable businesses to comply with the relevant market standards.
About the Project
The International Trade Centre’s South Sudan Jobs Creation and Trade Development project aims to increase the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and employment opportunities for the South Sudanese population engaged in the fruit and vegetable subsector.
The European Union-funded project contributes to addressing the value addition, competitiveness, job creation and trade development challenges of South Sudan. Specifically, the interventions of the project are expected to improve productive capacities and compliance to standards for MSMEs, increase market linkages for MSMEs and enhance employability and entrepreneurship capacity for the South Sudanese labour force, focussing on youth and women.
