Creating Good Jobs in Ethiopia

2022-11-24T08:46:24+00:00November 22nd, 2022|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Export and Business Development for Ethiopian Agribusinesses The backbone of the Ethiopian economy is agriculture, which provides employment for approximately 68% of the working population and represents 30% of GDP. With over 40% of the Ethiopian population being under the age of 15, the Ethiopian government must facilitate the creation of millions of jobs a year to ensure the reduction in the labour surplus. Consequently, and for the past two decades, the Ethiopian government’s strategy for economic development is the structural transformation of the economy from low- to high-productivity agriculture, value-addition and industrialisation. In conjunction with the GIZ project, [Read more]

Project update: Market entry expert for value chain work on black cardamom

2020-10-28T07:36:06+00:00October 28th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

Our work as a market entry expert for the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State” has come to an end. Workshop in Thandaunggyi township Scope of the project This project not only aimed to improve the nutritional status and WASH conditions of these farmers but also focused on improving their incomes. With the objective of improving the farmer's incomes, the project supported them to “step-up” and improve their position in agricultural value chains. ProFound´s role was to provide support as a market entry expert. We focused on black cardamom, and [Read more]

Workshop with farmers and traders in Myanmar to find alternative cardamom markets

2020-03-20T15:26:12+00:00March 20th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

Cardamom producers in Myanmar are facing challenges in accessing markets. Their main market is China, but, in recent years, prices have been dropping significantly. ProFound is supporting these producers and traders to find alternative markets. For that purpose, our consultant Jolanda van Hal travelled to Myanmar to prepare them for participation at international trade fairs. Preparing cardamom traders for trade fair participation Jolanda gave a training to the Multi-Stakeholder Platform created by SNV in the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State”. This training focused on different aspects related to trade fairs [Read more]

Workshop in Myanmar to develop market access for cardamom and turmeric

2020-01-14T08:18:02+00:00January 14th, 2020|Tags: , , , , , , |

A project to fight rural poverty through selected value chains End of November ProFound's team members Bert-Jan and Geertje visited Myanmar to train the Multistakeholder platform (MSP) for cardamom and turmeric. This MSP has been established by SNV under the project “Improving the incomes and nutrition outcomes of rural poor in Northern Kayin State”. That project was implemented by a consortium of CDN-ZOA, World Concern Myanmar, CORDAID and local partners since 2016 in Thandaunggyi township in Kayin State. The project is amongst others helping the rural poor to “step-up”. It aims at improving their position in selected value chains, [Read more]

Paving Colombia’s way to the international cocoa market

2019-03-01T15:08:51+00:00September 19th, 2018|Tags: , , , , , |

ProFound’s senior consultant Gustavo Ferro spent the last few weeks in Colombia, where he has worked in different activities of Swisscontact’s Colombia + Competitiva (C+C) programme. Gustavo is part of Swisscontact’s Swiss Expert Network (SEN), and has been advising on C+C’s specialty cocoa projects. The specialty cocoa sector in Colombia has an enormous potential to thrive. The country has a pallet of around 9 cocoa-producing regions with diverse agro-climatic and social characteristics. Colombia’s cocoa bean production reached new records in 2017, at over 60 thousand tonnes. Challenges in Colombia's cocoa bean exports  At the moment, only around 20% of Colombia’s [Read more]

Identifying opportunities in Europe for Palestinian MAPs producers

2019-03-28T11:45:30+00:00August 20th, 2018|Tags: , , , , , |

On behalf of CBI, ProFound recently conducted a value chain analysis (VCA) for Palestinian medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). We analysed both the supply side in Palestine and the European market to identify bottlenecks, opportunities and possible interventions to develop the Palestinian MAPs sector. CBI will use this VCA to determine if, how and with which partners they can develop a project in the State of Palestine. Challenges for MAPs production in State of Palestine The State of Palestine is known for its production of fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, olive oil, dates and almonds. European buyers are interested to [Read more]

Central America – A Multisectoral Value Chain Analysis

2019-03-28T11:44:37+00:00July 6th, 2018|Tags: , , , , , |

Coffee, cacao, (fresh and processed) fruit and vegetables, as well as fish and seafood: they are a few of the most demanded products on the European food market. They are also among the most important export products for Central America. As such, many exporters in the region are still looking for opportunities and often dream of Europe as key market. Europe is perceived as an ideal destination for high-quality products and premium prices.  Also, European buyers show great interest in products from Central America: The region furnishes complex, high-altitude Arabica coffees with multiple social and ecological certifications which match European [Read more]

Gustavo Ferro on mission in Central America: 6 countries, 5 sectors, 5 weeks

2019-03-28T11:45:08+00:00March 29th, 2018|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

ProFound’s senior consultant Gustavo Ferro is currently conducting a Multisectoral Value Chain Analysis (VCA) in Central America for CBI’s new Export Coaching Programme (ECP). He visits six different countries to collect data for this analysis, in collaboration with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). In each country, Gustavo and CATIE’s experts are engaging with SMEs and sector organisations. These provide their views and experiences on the following sectors: Specialty coffee Cacao and derivatives Fresh fruit and vegetables Processed fruit and vegetables Fish and seafood We are identifying the main constraints and opportunities for sustainable export growth from SMEs [Read more]

CBI assigns ProFound to conduct Value Chain Analysis in Central America

2019-03-28T11:44:46+00:00December 20th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

ProFound is starting 2018 at full speed. We have been recently selected by CBI to carry out a Value Chain Analysis for its new Export Coaching Programme (ECP) in Central America. This ECP will be implemented in the framework of the European Commission’s Central America Regional Economic Integration policy. In the first weeks of next year we will investigate the constraints and opportunities for Central American countries within the following export-potential sectors: Specialty coffee Cocoa and derivatives Fresh fruit and vegetables Processed fruit and vegetables Fish and seafood ProFound will shed special light on Corporate Social Responsibility issues and risks, [Read more]

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