EurepGAP certification was in the natural course of events for SEPAM. Production output of green beans and cherry tomatoes has grown steadily over the last few years from 2,118 tonnes in 2002 to an expected 3,500t in 2004-2005, a 65 per cent increase over a three-year period. With the European Union as its largest export market - mainly France, the Netherlands and Germany - the company was naturally obliged to take steps towards complying with EU commercial and regulatory requirements to maintain production levels.
“We export around 80 per cent of our production,” explains Malick Mbengue, the company’s managing and financial director. “Since we work for European consumers we have to meet European Union standards.”
Certification has achieved more than just ensuring that SEPAM’s products meet European standards - there are obvious long-term economic benefits. But perhaps more importantly are the dramatic improvements in working conditions, such as workers being outfitted with protective or specialised gear to carry out their tasks. A certain zeal has set in at the company following these positive changes. Workers now say that they feel more enthusiastic about working in the fields and the factory.
At the start of the day, a shuttle picks up the workers at designated points in town. When they arrive at SEPAM’s premises, such as at the Keur Ndiaye Lô production site near Dakar, they head towards the changing room, put on their work clothes and wash their hands. “Washing our hands before we start working is for hygiene in the company,” explains Nogaye Fall, a young worker.
For Nogaye and her fellow workers, this has now become a habit. For greater hygiene and protection, a modern toilet block and storage units for plant protection products, fertilisers and packaging were built on the other side of the plant, far from the processing facility. SEPAM has also invested in five cold storage rooms, two labs, new wells, a sorting machine and a heat treatment room for the wood packaging it uses.
Beyond infrastructure improvements and staff training in hygiene, new procedures have also been introduced. At the processing plant, for example, traceability is now the norm. As products go through sorting and processing everything is numbered and accounted for, explains Mbengue: “One of the traceability codes indicates the date of processing, while others indicate which worker packed the box, the type of bean it is, the date it was harvested, the plot it comes from and the entire production line it went through, all the way from seeding to harvesting, including cultivation actions, plant protection treatments, checks on good agricultural practice and so on.” In order to reinforce compliance, several agricultural technicians and young agricultural engineers have also been recruited.
Certification is a source of pride for everyone in the company, be they field labourers or factory workers. “We pulled out all stops to earn it. It’s a good thing for us to be able to show Europeans that we are capable here in Africa of doing something good,” says factory manager Moïse Manuel Fakhoury. Bearing in mind that several years ago the factory was on the verge of closing entirely, EurepGAP certification has particular significance. But obtaining it wasn’t without problems.
Changing established work practices for a company with nearly 2,000 employees was no easy task, but perhaps hardest of all was to overcome the technical and financial difficulties. “Taking out loans from banks is difficult in Senegal as they consider the agricultural sector as risky, even if we have the means to repay,” says Mbengue. Nor is there any support from the government. Many companies in Senegal are compelled to look elsewhere for financing. Foreign importers and organisations are often called upon for help.
In 2002, SEPAM signed a memorandum of agreement with the Pesticide Initiative Programme (PIP). Since then PIP support has been instrumental in adapting the company’s agricultural practices to comply with the new EU food safety standards. Out of the 200 million CFA francs (€305,000) invested to meet food safety and hygiene standards, about 60 per cent came from the PIP programme’s co-financing mechanism. PIP technical expertise on a variety of issues also proved crucial.
Of course, certification is not an end in itself. While the company is only the second in Senegal to have earned EurepGAP certification, everyone at SEPAM seems to understand that what is important is to continue improving working methods. The company is very confident in the future, so much so that it is even considering diversifying its range of production to melons, mangoes, bananas and maybe even grapes.
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