EHPEA

World Day for Safety and Health marked in Addis Ababa

EHPEA places emphasis on precautionary measures to avert occupational safety problems
World Day for Safety and Health 2019 was marked on Friday May 03, 2019 at national level with a tripartite panel discussion held at Blue Sky Hotel in Addis Ababa. The Day, marked for the 16th and 15th time at World and national levels respectively, has been themed: “Safety and Health and the Future of Work.” Representatives and panelists from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), Employers and Employees Unions took part in the tripartite panel discussion.

During the discussion Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) Executive Director Tewodros Zewdie said Occupational Safety and Health is not only part and parcel of basic human rights but it is vital to sustainable growth and development. “The number of lives lost in connection with occupational safety is not insignificant. Problems occurring with occupational safety cause huge social and economic problems to employers and society, government and countries at large. The problem is yet unaddressed.”

Tewodros said it is often possible to avert mostoccupational safety-related problems through taking precautionary measures before they inflict enormous losses. Thus, focusing on the ways and means of prevention, every actor in the sector is expected to contribute part through introducing a strong follow up platform on attitudinal, procedural and standards management.

The Executive  Director stressed on the indispensability of adequate awareness creation activity through strengthening Employer-Government-Labour tripartite relationships.

Indicating that the concerted effort made by the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) has made modest contribution to the national development drive, the sector has created numerous opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises across the country.

After the introduction of EHPEA Code of Practice – professional ethics — some 12 years ago, impressive achievements have been witnessed with respect to boosting the productivity and profitability of farms in the sector. With a view to applying the Code, EHPEA has been making relentless effort towards furthering occupational safety and related matters through capacity building trainings.

On the occasion, MoLSA Industry Occupational Safety and Health Team Leader Mesfin Yilma highlighted that utmost attention has to be given to occupational safety and labour health in higher education researches so that strides could be made in the area.

Royal FloraHolland traded over 12 bln products in 2018

In 2018, 12.1 billion flowers and plants were traded at the Royal FloraHolland marketplace. Product sales amounted to € 4.65 billion, a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to 2017. The warm summer in Europe and the cold weather conditions in the most important production areas in Africa are an explanation for this. The average prices were slightly higher in 2018 than in 2017. The flowers and plants were supplied by 5,550 suppliers and purchased by 2,465 customers. This is apparent from the 2018 annual report that was published on 15 April 2019.

CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde: “We focus on developing the combination of the digital and physical marketplace for flowers and plants. That is where our future lies. Royal FloraHolland develops new services in the area of ​​deal making, financial settlement and logistics, aimed at growers and their buyers. Services that make our customers successful. The extra attention to improving daily services and the focus on our core activities has paid off. Major investments were made in 2018. As a result, customer satisfaction improved greatly in 2018. ” .

Royal FloraHolland is committed to a future-proof floriculture sector in which flowers and plants are grown and traded with respect for people and the environment. As a participant in the Floriculture Sustainable Initiative, Royal FloraHolland is committed to making the production of members more sustainable. The target for 2020 is to have 90% of the products grown and traded sustainably. In 2018 the percentages were 40% for flowers and 63% for plants. Sustainability also includes the use of sustainable packaging. Royal FloraHolland is one of the signatories to the Plastic Pact.

With more than 100,000 transactions per day and more than 30,000 different types of flowers and plants, Royal FloraHolland is the international marketplace and knowledge partner that contributes to the success of growers and buyers. Royal FloraHolland has an annual turnover of 4.65 billion euros, 4,031 members and 2,465 buyers. 12.1 billion flowers and plants were sold in 2018. In addition to the Floriday digital platform, Royal FloraHolland has 4 physical market places where numerous logistics and other service activities are performed. These physical hubs are located in Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk, Rijnsburg and Eelde. Royal FloraHolland offers the possibility of digital and physical auctioning through 35 auction clocks, according to FlowerWeb.

New tech keeps flowers fresh from harvest to shipping

“This technology is well-known in other industries, but we are the first farm in the world that will use it in cut flowers,” Pablo Bazzani of Plazoleta Flowers proudly says. The technology he refers to is Dry-C, an innovative method that controls the temperature and humidity of their flowers before shipment. “It allows us to set the flowers in optimal conditions to handle external challenges during transportation that can impact their quality and freshness, hence, arriving at its final destination in the soundest conditions. We now control something most farms did not believe can be controlled.”

But what is the reason of this Colombian flower farm for starting to use this technology? “Our flowers are exposed to external challenges during transportation that can go beyond our control. Extreme temperature changes, missing flight connections, and long transits in sea containers can impact the quality of our varieties. So, along the years we had seen how some claims came from our customers even when all the team did an exceptional job preparing the freshest flowers to our customer.”

“We truly understand all the logistic challenges that our flowers have to sort out to get to the final destination, so we decided to tackle this issue hands-on, trying to get control on something most of the companies believe cannot control.”

Together with the support of several Dutch companies, we started developing and implementing the Dry-C technology suitable for their cut flowers. “It was not just one thing; it is the result of gathering many improved processes usually used by the farms but including some technologies used for example in the food industry. Dry-C Technology is the result of years of hard work.”

The trial period took more than six months setting all the different varieties lines. “It is not the same processing an Alstroemeria or a dry product like Limonium Sinensis, so the stricter challenge was to identify all the breakpoints in terms of temperature and humidity of each variety and type of flower we grow.”

So how does it work? “It all starts at the field,” explains Bazzani. “As soon as the flowers are cut we take them in record time to a temp controlled post-harvest. Once the flowers get to the line, they stop by a chamber that cools down the temperature to 4 degrees in a short time and takes off all the surface water, getting ready to start all the hydration, bunching and packaging process all under a temp controlled atmosphere. At the end of the process, all the boxes go through another chamber specially set depending on the variety that cools the flowers to 2 degrees again drying the flowers, so they get to the logistic agents in optimal conditions to start their journey to the final customer. Even more, resistant to any undesirable delay or temp variation.”

According to Bazzani, Dry-C works outstandingly in all their varieties. “It gives exceptional results in Alstroemeria, Limonium Sinensis, Statice, Solidago, Snapdragon and Leucadendron.”

One of their main goals is to reduce the number of claims. “We are still on the road to get more statistics, but our goal is to reduce all claims by 70% by the end of this year.”

“All we are looking for by using this method is to keep our customers satisfied with the products we grow. We genuinely think that our biggest challenge is to provide competitiveness to our customer by choosing Plazoleta.”

Macfrut Exhibition to be opened next week

The 36th edition of Macfrut exhibition, the most important event of fruit and vegetables in Italy, will take place in Rimini, Rimini Expo Centre May 08-10, 2019
Close to 400 new buyers from around the world are expected to be part of the event at five exhibition halls. Participating exhibitors will represent 11 sectors, covering the entire fruit and vegetable supply industry: seeds, breeding & nursery, crop technology, production, trading and retail, post-harvest machinery & technology, packaging materials, fresh-cut produce, dried fruit, logistics and services.

The Italian Trade Agency in Addis Ababa has been facilitating to enable relevant farms and companies in Ethiopia to take part in the Macfrut 2019.

Accordingly, at a Country Pavilion designated for Ethiopia at the Expo Center, along with the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) Almeta Impex PLC, Beles Agame PLC, Ethamco LLC-Ethiopia Branch, Meki Batu Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Cooperative Union, Raya Horti Farms and Small Holder Horticulture Project (SHP), among others, are the co-exhibitors of the event.

It is to be recalled that ITA and EHPEA jointly provided training in March for companies set to take part in the Macfrut 2019, Fruit & Veg Professional Show in Italy.

Contact Info

Location : Micky Leyland Avenue on the Road to Atlas Hotel, NB Business Center; 6th floor; Room # 603

Phone : +251 11 6636750

P.O.Box: 22241 Code 1000

Email: info@ehpea.org

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