Food traceability in the domestic horticulture sector in Kenya: An overview
This study (PDF) by 3R Kenya and Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation and TradeCare aimed to review the available tracebility systems and identify the best options for the domestic horticulture suppy chain in Kenya with the goal to provide food safety and quality assurance. The importance of food safety and quality in the Kenyan domestic sector cannot be overemphasized. Consumers are becoming more aware and supply chain actors are starting to realize the need because food safety and traceability is not only consumer-driven, but investment-worthy too. Traceability systems help deliver tailored goods and services to the consumers and are an evidence of value, especially in terms of quality and safety of the product. Actors in the fresh fruits and vegetables supply chains can benefit greatly from having traceability systems in place. The paper-based traceability system is the cheapest option. However, it entails a very tedious process that requires a lot of time, manpower (labour), and requires a lot of paper work. In terms of cost, eProd is best suited for a large producer group or a firm in the value chain that intends to improve the efficiency of the operations and would like to offer safer and higher-quality products. Farmforce, on the other hand, would work well for a smaller producer group. In conclusion, a good traceability system that becomes a tool for food safety assurance has a number of requirements. Examples are; 1) Capable of record keeping on pesticides use, 2) Record yields/volumes hence facilitate mass balancing; 3) Scaling up to unique coding/long term vision of a national traceability system; 4) Traceability throughout the supply chain; 5) Gives information back to farmers; 6) Integrates standards that need to be met; 7) Can be interfaced with other applications.