THE East African Community (EAC) is having a fresh look for fruits, leather goods and herbal medicines in a move aimed at stimulating quality in value chains analysis through use of CALIDENA methodology whose ultimate goal is to penetrate in the wider regional and global markets.
The fresh look comes at the time when six partner states of EAC are trying to produce more fruits to capture markets within and outside the community, especially in Europe and America, but also when there has been an increase in use of herbal medicines.
The regional bloc has partnered with the National Metrology Institute of the Federal Republic of Germany (PTB-the PhysikalischTechnische Bundesanstalt) as well as the East African Business Council (EABC) to implement the project.
The partnership seeks to strengthen regional quality infrastructure for the three selected sectors and will be running up to 2022. It supports the EAC Industrialisation Policy and Strategy (2012/32) that envisions improvement of quality in EAC priority value chains.
According to the EABC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Peter Mathuki, already an EABC team has successfully undergone training on application of the CALIDENA methodology in value chain analysis for fruits, leather goods and herbal medicines.
It was as part of the project implementation, the EAC through technical support from PTB convened a facilitators training on the application of the CALIDENA method in value chains analysis for said sectors and was held from 14th to 16th January in Arusha.
CALIDENA is a participatory methodology developed and implemented by PTB to stimulate quality in value chains (VC) and aims to systematically and sustainably support the improvement of the quality infrastructure in developing and transformation countries.
It is a participatory methodology developed and implemented by the PTB to stimulate quality in VC; It aims to systematically and sustainably support the improvement of the quality infrastructure in developing countries and emerging economies.
The CALIDENA methodology brings stakeholders of a selected value chain and providers of quality infrastructure and services together for a rapid gap analysis and action plan to improve manufacturing and trade quality. The compliance of quality requirements is critical for intraregional and international trade.
The methodology aims to enhance awareness quality and food safety issues; Foster the demand of quality services within selected VCs and strengthen the demand-orientation of quality infrastructure in the EAC and its partner states.
The EAC Secretariat has already kick-started assessment of supply capacities for textiles, apparels and leather products in the region to facilitate planning for the phasing-out of the second hand leather and apparels products. That is in line with the directive of the 17th EAC Heads of State Summit issued in 2016.
The 20th Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, on February last year, received a report on the review of the textile and leather sector in the region.
It did so with a view to developing a strong and competitive sector that gives consumers better choices than imported textiles and footwear. The Summit directed the Council of Ministers to conclude the matter and report to the 21st Summit.
