Lebanon – Agricultural Quality Control and Certification (QCC) Program
Fostering Sustainable Growth, Reducing Poverty
ACDI/VOCA works to increase the competitiveness of Lebanon’s global agro-processing industry.
Under a USAID-funded, 3-year, $3 million Leader With Associates Award (LWA), ACDI/VOCA implements the Lebanon Agricultural Quality Control and Certification (QCC) program. The program improves the processing industry through the sustainable expansion and improved quality of market-oriented services provided by accredited and certified laboratories and plants.
The QCC program will achieve this through three primary objectives:
- Better services: improving the quality, market orientation and range of plant and laboratory services available to agro-industrial processors and producers
- More-effective business models: improving marketing efforts and increasing profitability and sustainability
- Increased collaboration: expanding systematized collaboration among service providers and the broader agro-industry
Testing and Research Facilities Essential to Growth
The project works with four existing food-testing laboratories and product-development plants that function as a key supporting service market to the small and medium-sized enterprise-driven agro-food industry in Lebanon. Testing and research facilities provide essential services to the food industry—without them it is impossible to meet buyer requirements for quality and safety or consumer demand for innovation.
Yet, the state of the current network of facilities in Lebanon is insufficient to support the long-term growth of this industry, particularly as markets increasingly require compliance with internationally recognized quality standards and more and more companies acknowledge that their future lies in expanding export share of higher-value, niche and ethnic foods demanded by consumers in the Gulf Cooperation Council, European Union and the United States. In addition, many Lebanese companies face challenges competing domestically due to the high cost of inputs such as labor and fuel and inexpensive imports crowding the market.
ACDI/VOCA Analyzes Market Conditions
The QCC program began by conducting an initial market assessment, which gathered information on the growing agro-processing industry and looked specifically at the constraints in four processing laboratories: Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (CCIA) laboratories in Zahle, Tripoli and Saida and the government-owned Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) laboratory in greater Beirut.
Following this initial assessment, the program identified needed equipment and material upgrades to increase and improve services, and has begun the process of co-investing with the facilities through in-kind transfers. QCC is also collaborating with local organizations and engineers to design plans for the physical expansion of the labs to accommodate the increased services that will be available. As part of the process, QCC is implementing trainings and other activities to assist the laboratories in obtaining ISO 17025 accreditation.
Food Exporters Access Technical Information
QCC is building capacity and increasing access to market information among the laboratories and the SMEs they work with through trainings on export requirements, specifically those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the development of a web portal. The web portal will include technical information on exporting to many destinations (such as the U.S., Europe, Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia) and serve as an information center for food manufacturers aiming to export their products. The program is also providing assistance to the CCIAs in developing business and marketing plans to enable them to reach a wider range of SMEs and increase profits to become fully sustainable.
For more information, contact Emily Stiles at estiles@acdivoca.org.
Updated: 4/11
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