In promoting safe food production and consumption of fruits and vegetables, the Secretariat of the Green Label Scheme has indicated it will be certifying 500 retail outlets on the Green Label certification scheme by 2022.
This certification agenda will ensure that some 30,000 fruits and vegetables producer as well as 40 processors are also certified under the scheme by the end of the target period.
The Scheme will increase income levels of producers and other value chain actors by more than five percent.
In an interview with the Executive Secretary of the Scheme, Anthony Tamakloe disclosed that, some farms have already been certified; among them is Agritop – a 5.4-hectare greenhouse farm located at Dawhenya.
He noted that produce from these farms are being supplied to pack houses that has the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) certification and subsequently packaged for the supermarket and hotels.
Currently, Eden Tree is one of the packhouses receiving produce from certified farms and is they retail at Max Mart 37 and A&C Mall.
Based on the secretariat’s campaigns, there have been a huge demand for Green label certified produce with major supermarkets such as Marina Mall, Shoprite, Melcom, The Farmers Market showing great interest for which the secretariat has envisaged to make produce available at these outlets before the end of December, 2019
To be able to meet these growing demand and entrench the patronage of green label certified produce on the local market, Hortifresh project has provided substantial funding to support certification of some selected farms and packhouse, improve security feature of the label and to also sensitize the public on the need to buy and consume certified fruits and vegetable produce on the local market.
Traceability System
To ensure the safety of food produce to the final consumer, the Scheme has launched the Green Label Traceability System that would serve as a tool in tracing food produced under the system. This will also serve as a data collection tool, for further policy decisions.
