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Food Processing Pilot Centres - An approach to productive capacity-building for trade and poverty alleviation in Africa
Poverty is known to be spreading in rural areas, where populations rely directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood. Despite efforts undertaken to develop agricultural production, more than 800 million people, most of them living in developing countries and Africa in particular, still suffer from poverty and food insecurity. While acknowledging the crucial role of increasing agricultural production to fight malnutrition and poverty, UNIDO programmes emphasize productive capacity-building for trade as a way to fight poverty, particularly through technological development for value adding. Appropriate food preservation/storage and processing/packaging techniques as well as improved hygiene practices and quality assurance systems have been implemented. As a consequence, post-harvest losses are reduced, thus increasing food availability. Safety and product quality have improved to meet market demands and requirements, thus increasing product marketability and the income of rural entrepreneurs, and enhancing job creation. In the particular case of the food industry, UNIDO programmes embarked on the establishment of food processing pilot centres (FPPCs) in Africa.