{"id":21843,"date":"2015-12-13T02:05:55","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T02:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/european-union-opens-market-to-kenyan-fish\/"},"modified":"2015-12-13T02:05:48","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T02:05:48","slug":"european-union-opens-market-to-kenyan-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/european-union-opens-market-to-kenyan-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"European Union opens market to Kenyan fish farmers after two year ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Kenyan commercial fish farmers will now have a wider market after the European Union gave the go ahead for them to export the produce into its market.}<\/p>\n

Previously, only fish from natural sources including lakes like Victoria were permitted to the EU market.<\/p>\n

But the market is now open to the private sector amid the growing aquaculture agribusiness as fish ponds become more popular in most parts of the country.<\/p>\n

Two months ago, the EU cleared Kenya to export farm fish and fish products into the region after close to a two-year ban.<\/p>\n

In the last one week, experts in the aquaculture sector have been training trainers in Nakuru on the sanitary and other requirements for the international market.<\/p>\n

The five-day meeting brought together 20 fish inspectors from different parts of the country.<\/p>\n

A similar training targeting the dairy sector was running at another hotel, also aimed at boosting both local and international markets.<\/p>\n

The trainings are part of the EU-funded Standards and Market Access Programme (SMAP) which is being implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).<\/p>\n

Daniel Mungai, an assistant director in the Fisheries Department. He said Kenya was ready to export to not only the EU, but also globally. PHOTO | RACHEL KIBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP<\/p>\n

BOOST EXPORT MARKET<\/p>\n

In a bid to boost the export sector, EU channelled 12.1 million Euros (Sh1.4 billion) to various players in Kenya\u2019s export industry.<\/p>\n

The money is to be spent under SMAP, which aims at extending capacity on Kenya\u2019s technical, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for international trade.<\/p>\n

Fisheries officials hailed the programme saying it had come at the right time when the aquaculture sector is growing and braving for bigger markets.<\/p>\n

Mr Daniel Mungai, an assistant director in the Fisheries Department, said the country was ready to export to not only the EU, but also globally.<\/p>\n

Mr Mungai was one of the facilitators of the training which was held at a hotel along Kanu Street in the outskirts of Nakuru Town.<\/p>\n

Among top requirements in the sector are high-level hygiene for both the aquaculture products as well as the handlers in the chain.<\/p>\n

This requires keen following from production to the handling across the value chain.<\/p>\n

Mr Mungai expressed optimism that following the trainings, fish export will soon be a booming business earning the country a lot in foreign exchange.<\/p>\n

MEET GLOBAL EXPORT STANDARDS<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all here with one concrete purpose; market access,\u201d said Mungai adding that this would only be realized by ensuring that Kenya meets global requirements for export.<\/p>\n

Among the market access requirements are World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) technical guidelines and FAO\/WTO Codex Alimentarius Food Standards.<\/p>\n

Others include FAO Codes of Practice, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982 and World Health Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Aquatic Health Code.<\/p>\n

At the dairy training, stakeholders were taught on the sector\u2019s history in Kenya as well as requirements for the international market.<\/p>\n

The training brought together players from both the private and public sector, who will train other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Currently, Kenya exports milk and other dairy products mainly to the East African region.<\/p>\n

However, the international market has barely been exploited despite the numerous opportunities and the positive economic impact that would come with its exploitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are focusing on how we can capture international trade and boost the economic status across the value chain,\u201d said Kenya Dairy Board Chief Dairy Inspector Mr Evanson Mwangi.<\/p>\n

He expressed optimism that through SMAP, many stakeholders will be informed enough to explore the international market.<\/p>\n

EMPHASIS ON QUALITY<\/p>\n

But, Mwangi noted, the dairy sector must form a culture of focusing on quality locally as this will ease the practice on the international level.<\/p>\n

The trainees were sensitised on hygienic milk handling both at the farm, delivery and processing levels, hazard identification and quality control and testing.<\/p>\n

Both trainings also focused on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) for fish and dairy products as a key consideration especially for the export market.<\/p>\n

Ms Christin Misiko, Unido\u2019s SMAP Project Manager, said the programme focuses on five sectors including meat, horticulture, apiculture, dairy and aquaculture.<\/p>\n

SMAP aims at enhancing food safety, quality and trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, everyone across the chain in the five sectors will benefit as we boost international trade,\u201d said Ms Misiko<\/p>\n

Another training targeting fish farmers is set for next week in Nakuru.<\/p>\n

SMAP is set to run until December 2016 and will be implemented by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), Unido and the Fisheries Department.<\/p>\n

Other implementing partners are the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) and Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

SOURCE:DAILY NATION:[European Union opens market to Kenyan fish farmers after two year ban->http:\/\/www.nation.co.ke\/counties\/nakuru\/EU-opens-market-to-Kenyan-fish-farmers\/-\/1183314\/2994540\/-\/su7ga8z\/-\/index.html]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Kenyan commercial fish farmers will now have a wider market after the European Union gave the go ahead for them to export the produce into its market.} Previously, only fish from natural sources including lakes like Victoria were permitted to the EU market. But the market is now open to the private sector amid the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000070828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[2461],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-21843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-daily-nation"],"bylines":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000070828,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton21843.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000070828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21843"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=21843"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=21843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}