This white paper has been developed by Wageningen Food & Biobased Research within the frame of and financed by the KB project 'Improving Food Systems in Africa"/ (62341747-00) The aim is to develop a tool to assess the real needs for development on country-as well as company level in order to improve food-and nutrition security. Based on this, the knowledge of different disciplines within Wageningen Research can be combined to work on solutions.
This report shares the findings of the first start-up mission to Haiti, exploring all relevant elements pertaining to the design of the mango and avocado cold chain for fruit export to the USA, with the possibility to extend logistics services to other fruits like pineapple. Findings of the mission will be used to produce a report on the technical design of the cold chain from tree harvest till arrival in Miami. The mission was exposed to the current realities and experiences of fruit production and export in Haiti and will factor these into the design of the proposal. Basic data and information on the two value chains are presented in chapter 2. During the mission a number of ideas and suggestions to improve the value chain have been discussed and explored, including logistical, economic and social elements. These are presented in the chapters 3 and 4 of the report.
The first deliverables, a Training Report and a Recommendation Report, have been shared earlier with the commissioner, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MCI) in Haiti. The present report is the last deliverable: The Final Report. In addition, tailor made advise continues to be provided by the WUR team related to fruit export requirements and the design of the Mobile Packing Unit (MPU).We believe these deliverables fulfil the intended goals of the technical support by WUR and are a good basis for the further progress of postharvest handling and preparing the pilot with the MPU in 2022.We would like to thank the project team, especially Mick Pantal and Régine Napoleon from MCI and Emiliano Duch from the World Bank. Together, we had to overcome some challenges, such as changes in the project design, and travel restrictions due to COVID-19. We are also grateful to the partnership we experienced by all other project partners, including the pineapple, mango and avocado fruit producers we have encountered.Solutions to challenges mentioned above have been found by adapting the design of the project, having close communication on project requirements, learning together from pilots, and maintaining a focus on how fruit small growers can be supported.
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