Course A: Quality management and marketing for agricultural commodities
February 16th to March 6th, 2009
Course B: Certification for agricultural commodities and accreditation for certifying bodies
March 16th to April 3rd 2009
Quality in organic product chains
The global organic food trade exceeds US$ 40 billion per year. Quality management and certification accompany organic produce “from farm to fork”. Stringent management and control of production, handling, transport, processing, trade and marketing is essential to minimise losses in quantity and quality. Inspection and certification warrant produce and process quality and compliance with standards set by legislation and the market.
Certification bodies - often resident in the major “organic markets” Europe, North America and Japan - operate worldwide at high prices, which can hardly be met by small-scale producers in developing countries. Smallholder group certification and internal control systems are instruments to facilitate smallholder access to the “certified” organic market.
Standards constantly evolve due to changing market requirements, legislation, consumer preferences and consumer protection needs. Professionals from the organic sector in developing countries require state of the-art knowledge and must keep track of latest developments in order to successfully develop and maintain local marketing and certification structures.
To meet this demand, DITSL and the University of Kassel in Witzenhausen have developed an international training programme comprising two courses:
A) “Quality management and marketing”
B) “Certification and accreditation”
Each course offers three weeks of intensive interactive seminar sessions, workshops and field trips to organic growers, processors, importers, wholesalers and retailers. Course A includes a visit of the BIOFACH in Nuremberg, the annual venue for the “organic world” with regularly over 2,500 exhibitors and over 45,000 trade visitors from more than 120 countries.
Our trainers are faculty staff and professionals from the organic sector with daily hands-on experience in quality management and certification along the product chain.
Further information and registration
Information at www.ditsl.de (including registration form)
Contact
German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL)
Steinstraße 19
37213 Witzenhausen / Germany
Tel.: +49-5542-607-30
Fax: +49-5542-607-39
courses(at)ditsl.org
www.ditsl.de
Department of Organic Food Qualityand Food Culture,
Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences,
University of Kassel
Prof. Dr. Angelika Ploeger
Nordbahnhofstrasse 1a
37213 Witzenhausen / Germany
a.ploeger(at)uni-kassel.de
www.uni-kassel.de /fb11/