Fifty-three local experts have been trained in certification for agri-SMEs across the country.

They have been equipped with skills as farm inspectors and lead auditors in Food Safety Management System, Organic production, Rainforest Alliance, GlobalGAP, and Fairtrade certification standards.

The group of experts was made up of 23 representatives from selected agribusiness firms and 30 unemployed graduates from tertiary institutions across Ghana.

The training has the objective of building local capacities to provide certification advisory services to local agribusiness SMEs, to make them audit-ready and reduce the high cost of audits while creating jobs and improving the Ghanaian business environment.

The six-week certification training was conducted by the Pyramid Centre for Sustainable Development with support from Invest for Jobs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented, among others, by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

The training involved the full-scale introduction of different certification schemes, criteria and principles, certification of beneficiaries on specific standards as well as soft skills development.

According to Mr. Peter Koomson, Technical Advisor of Invest for Jobs at GIZ-Ghana, crop production is a major agent of negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts such as land use change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, pollution due to the extensive use of fertilizers, unfair compensation and labour practices, just to name a few.

“In response, there is an increasing consumer demand for products with decreased negative sustainability impacts, thus, certification standards have gained traction as one of the key mechanisms for ensuring sustainable production and guaranteeing mutual benefits across value chains,” he added.

As a result of such consumer demand, most local Ghanaian producers are precluded from participating in global markets because of the high financial and technical burden arising from the adoption of certification standards, noted by Mr. Koomson.  

The global certification proliferation has been largely driven by changing consumer preferences and behaviour in developed countries, partly due to rising living standards and concerns about food safety and the environmental and social consequences of agricultural production, explained Dr. Brako Dompreh, Executive Director of Pyramid Centre for Sustainable Development.

Apart from the numerous benefits to Ghanaian agri-SMEs, the certification training will act as a springboard for beneficiaries to contribute to an enhanced agribusiness environment and increase their employability in the face of Ghana's high youth unemployment rate.

The impact of the training and certification has started to take effect, with five beneficiaries already finding employment.

"It was difficult to find a job after more than a year of graduating from the university. The knowledge gained from this training as well as the certification from GIZ helped me to find a job as a Field Officer in an agribusiness firm," said Sakina Acheampomaa, one of the project’s beneficiaries.

Indeed, this project is part of many projects that demonstrate the commitment of “Invest for Jobs” and GIZ-Ghana as a valuable partner in Ghana’s development agenda.