localg.a.p. brings together sustainable farmers and supermarkets in South Africa

The localg.a.p. has been developed by GLOBALG.A.P. to be utilized as a capacity-building tool, or as a local standard for agricultural supply chains, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies.  

A new project destined to convert smallholder producers into sustainable farmers and link them to high-value markets of South Africa is proving successful.   

South African smallholder farmers have been experiencing financial difficulties for some time. Majority of them have been muscled out of high-value markets such as supermarket chains for different reasons. There have also been problems which affected crop yield and security, from structural obstacles like the limited availability of arable land or lack of technical innovation in farming. Besides, their inability to farm on an environmentally friendly level has forced important brands to stop working with these farmers. 

Addressing these issues wasn’t an easy task, but Solidaridad, the civil society organization, has united with the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) and the LIMA Rural Development Foundation to provide help to these smallholder farmers. This project is called “Smallholder Access to High-Value Horticultural Markets” and is funded by the European Union (EU) through the EU Delegation to South Africa. 

The project was carried out in the framework of the SWITCH Africa Green facility, helping emerging smallholder farmers to obtain access to high-value markets of South Africa; and helping them become localg.a.p. assessed producers. The assessments are utilized to help producers learn and adopt environmentally friendly agricultural practices that boost efficiency and fully comply with food safety legislation. 

The new agriculture and horticulture program works by upskilling South African smallholder producers and preparing them for commercialization. This will not only improve domestic and regional market integration across the sector, but also strengthen partnerships between high-value markets and smallholder farmers. 

Sustainable farming tools

The project was developed to train farmers on reliable methods of sustainable production and agricultural practices  (accurate soil, water and residue testing), to guarantee that farmers are aware of the contamination risk to their produce. 

A self-assessment tool was designed to help farmers follow their progress towards meeting the criteria of localg.a.p. This was united with internal assessments by project's team members, who could prepare farmers for testing by Control Union Certifications. 

427 of 750 smallholder farmers who participated in the project passed this assessment and obtained letters of conformance for localg.a.p. Besides, the project successfully connected smallholder farmers with retailers hoping that they can increase profits for sustainable farmers.

For more information about GLOBALG.A.P and localg.a.p, see the webpage