Many of the foods consumed in the industrial countries now come from all over the world, and increasingly from developing countries. Food consumption often involves health risks, since not all products are safe or of high quality. There is therefore just as much need to establish effective controls to ensure quality in food production as there is to support farmers and processing businesses.

Global standards for globally traded products
Global trade and increasing urbanisation clearly influence food safety and quality. The distance from farm to consumer via processing and trade channels is becoming longer and longer. Better techniques are needed to ensure product quality and freshness and to control pathogens. Improved methods of detecting contamination have resulted in ever-stricter maximum permissible levels, which in turn create higher barriers to competition. Clear guidelines on what standards are binding are therefore essential. Ensuring compliance with standards requires know-how relating to production and processing methods.

Quality assurance creates impulses for growth
GTZ advises government and private actors in the food industry on introducing quality assurance systems, implementing international standards in the national arena, and developing consumer protection organisations. Supporting farmers, food processors and government inspection bodies helps to ensure that the food that comes onto domestic and international markets is safe and of high quality. This creates and preserves jobs and alleviates poverty, particularly in rural areas.

GTZ therefore supports

• the promotion of international agricultural trade,
• the development of a market-oriented agricultural sector,
• the promotion of economic development and employment in many countries with a large agricultural sector, and
• the integration process of EU accession countries.

Transparency from A to Z: Focusing on the value chain
A holistic approach includes all stages of the value chain – from raw materials to processing to trade and consumer protection – in the promotion measures. Advice is provided in accordance with codified standards that conform to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as to international social and ecological standards.

A practical example: in Morocco and Ghana, GTZ has provided advice to vegetable farmers, factories and government supervisory agencies on the manufacture of canned vegetables. The finished products are now able to compete on domestic and international markets. This has helped to secure income opportunities in the agricultural sector and the food processing industry.