FOOD SAFETY ACADEMY OF FOOD SAFETY ASSOCIATES LIMITED

FOOD SAFETY ACADEMY OF FOOD SAFETY ASSOCIATES LIMITED REPORT OF THE TRAINING WORKSHOP TO ENHANCE FOOD SAFETY, QUALITY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STANDARDS BY MAIZE MILLERS AND HAMMER MILL FABRICATORS CODUCTED BY MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND COOPERATIVES UNDER THE QUISP PROJECT IN COLLABORATION WITH FOOD SAFETY ACADEMY OF FOOD SAFETY ASSOCIATES LTD HELD ON 4 th OCTOBER 2016 AT MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY CENTRE (MTIC), NAKAWA AND ON 6 th DECEMBER 2016 AT RELIANCE VIEW HOTEL, MBALE DISTRICT COMPILED BY GRACE NANYOMBI-PROJECTS ASSISTANT FOOD SAFETY ASSOCIATES LTD 1

Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION... 3 2.0 THE OBJECTIVES (OUTPUT AREAS) OF THE ASSIGNMENTOF THE EXPERT ARE;... 4 3.0 OUTPUT 5: SUPPORT THE TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR MSMES... 4 3.1 ROLE OF MTIC AND FSA EXPERTS IN ACHIEVING THIS OUTPUT... 5 3.2 THE TRAINING OF MAIZE MILLERS AND HAMMER MILL FABRICATORS... 6 3.2.1 TARGET PARTICIPANTS AND REPRESENTATION FOR THE TRAINING... 6 3.2 TRAINING SESSIONS... 8 3.2.1 PRESENTATION ON THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ON THE MAIZE MILLS AND HAMMER MILLS FABRICATORS IN UGANDA... 8 3.2.2 PRESENTATIONS OF FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE IN MAIZE MILLING ESTABLISHMENTS.... 8 3.2.3 PRESENTATION ON THE BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS ON QUALITY AND SAFE HAMMER MILLING MACHINES... 10 3.3 AWARD OF CERTIFICATES... 11 4.0 MONITORING MECHANISMS TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE TRAINING TO THE TRAINED GRAIN MILLING AND HAMMER MILL FABRICATION SMEs IN THE SELECTED REGIONS... 11 2

1.0 INTRODUCTION The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), in collaboration with Swedish Government and Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) has been implementing the Quality Infrastructure and Standards Programme-QUISP since 2010. The programme aims at establishing a market-driven, holistic and coordinated institutional framework for the Ugandan Quality Infrastructure and Standards; which supports trade, industry, health, safety, consumer protection and a sustainable environment while at the same time promoting use of best practices in the production and service sectors. The overall objective of the Quality Infrastructure and Standards Programme (QUISP) is to promote the use of quality infrastructure and standards so as to improve the competitiveness of Uganda s products, processes and service delivery systems in domestic, regional and international markets. The programme has five Specific objectives which form the result areas and these include; 1. To develop a policy for Standardization and review strategies for policy implementation 2. To develop a comprehensive and effective legal framework for the implementation and enforcement of standards and quality control measures. 3. To establish an effective coordination mechanism with clearly defined mandates and responsibilities for the different actors in the Standards and Quality area 4. To rationalize the institutional set up of service providers for standards development, conformity assessment and measurement services 5. To enhance public awareness on standards and quality products and best practices Through the extension implementation of QUISP, the ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives together with the programme s technical team developed a number of short term expert assignments that would require the services of local experts to facilitate the implementation of those activities. Food Safety Associates Ltd is the local expert that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC) through QUISP to facilitate the implementation of these Key Short Assignments. 3

2.0 THE OBJECTIVES (OUTPUT AREAS) OF THE ASSIGNMENTOF THE EXPERT ARE; 1. Develop short-term policy studies to guide the decisions of the SMCA fora and other relevant institutions on topical issues. 2. Develop end of implementation evaluation and phasing out strategy to ensure sustainability of key QUISP results 3. Support MAAIF, KCCA and UNBS to implement the animal feeds and meat value related standards and or technical regulation 4. Support training of MDAs in: development of Technical Regulations according to Good Regulatory Practice (GRP), implementation of control plans and standard operating procedures, modern monitoring, surveillance and control based on Risk Analysis (i.e. auditing, certification, sampling and testing). 5. Support the training and implementation of quality standards and best practices for MSMEs 6. Support capacity building of Technical Assessors and laboratory Analysts in method validation and estimation of measurement uncertainty. 3.0 OUTPUT 5: SUPPORT THE TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR MSMES Already, MTIC has worked with some stakeholders such as UNBS to train over 600 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in implementation of standards in their businesses. As a result of the training, over 600 SMEs have received an S mark as a sign of their products meeting the requirements and 39 SMEs received the Q mark issued by the UNBS as a sign of their processes and products being compliant with the national standards. There are however, still more MSMEs which have not been trained that would see improvement in the quality of their products if a similar training is extended to them. In this regard, MTIC has identified over 350 SMEs to be trained in the current phase of the project. Therefore, under this component, the FSA expert was expected to: 1. Liaise with the relevant unit of the UNBS, identify the necessary standards that the MSMEs need to implement to meet the requirements of local and regional markets. 4

2. Develop training materials. 3. Support the PMU in identification of the potential Trainees and the organization of the Training of the MSMEs 4. Participate in the Training of the SMEs in implementation of the necessary quality standards 5. Participate in the monitoring the impact of the training and prepare training report indicating the lessons leant to aid the organization of similar future trainings. 3.1 ROLE OF MTIC AND FSA EXPERTS IN ACHIEVING THIS OUTPUT From the inception meetings between MTIC, FSA and other stakeholders, it was agreed that the first enterprises of interest are the grain millers where the training s emphasis was on hygiene, good manufacturing practices and technology being used (since not all are food grade). The role of the Food Safety Academy of Food Safety Associates was to develop Technical information and list standards to base on for training the identified MSMEs on GHP, GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000-Food Safety, develop the selection criteria for the enterprises, develop training material and facilitate the training in the selected regions of the country. The FSA expert after reviewing the technical information was able to develop a training manual on Good Manufacturing practices and food hygiene was the basis for the training to be conducted. The expert also prepared power point presentations extracted from the manual and this was used as the training tool. The role of MTIC in this particular output/result area was to identify the enterprises of interest that were to be trained in the different regions of the country and then organize the trainings. By use of the selection criteria that was drafted by the Food Safety Academy, MTIC through its Industry department and in conjunction with the Uganda SMEs association was able to select the first regions that were to benefit from this training and also to identify grain millers and hammer mill fabricators in the selected regions. The first priority regions were Kampala and its environs (Mukono and Wakiso) and Eastern Uganda. In Eastern Uganda, the ministry selected Mbale, Iganga, Tororo and Sironko districts to represent the region in this training. 5

3.2 THE TRAINING OF MAIZE MILLERS AND HAMMER MILL FABRICATORS The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives under the QUISP project, in conjunction with Food Safety Academy of Food Safety Associates was able to organize the first two similar trainings in the selected regions. The regions in which the trainings were conducted were Kampala and its environs (Wakiso and Mukono) and Eastern Uganda. The first training that took place on 4 th October 2016 at Management Technical and Advisory Center (MTIC), Nakawa and the second training took place on 6 th December 2016 at Reliance View Hotel, Mbale District. In both the trainings, the facilitators were by the FSA experts and a hammer mill fabricator specialist. Training team a. FSA experts b. MTIC team Dr. Ananias Bagumire (FSA Lead Expert) Mr. Roland Karumuna (Hygeine expert) Ms. Gloria Arinaitwe (Food Science expert) Ms. Grace Nanyombi (FSA Output Coordinator) Eng. Kassim Semanda (MTIC Output Coordinator) Mr. Simon Sebina Ms. Jacinta Atim c. Hammer Mill Fabrication expert Mr. Bosco Bernard (Fabrication expert) 3.2.1 TARGET PARTICIPANTS AND REPRESENTATION FOR THE TRAINING The target participants of the two trainings included; the owners and staff of grain milling SMEs, grain farmers, traders, fabricators, black smiths, district commercial officers in Kampala and its environs and the selected districts of Eastern Uganda (Mbale, Iganga, Tororo and Sironko). A total of 30 individuals represented the selected enterprises in the first training that took place at MTAC, Nakawa with the highest percentage (50%) being grain millers, followed by grain 6

traders (17%) and fabricators (17%). Out of the 30 participants, 90% were from Kampala based enterprises while only 7% and 3% represented Wakiso and Mukono districts respectively. Category of Participants in the training at MTAC, Nakawa Grain millers District representation of the training at MTAC, Nakawa 3% 6% 10% Fabricators and black smiths 7% Kampala 17% 50% Grain traders Mukono 17% Grain farmers 90% Wakiso District/local officers Out of the 80 grain milling operators and other key players who had been invited for the training in Eatern Uganda, 69 participants turned up for the training. These participants were from the four selected Eastern districts of Mbale (27%), Iganga (28%), Tororo (22%) and Sironko (23%). The participants were dominated by owners of grain milling SMEs and their staff (69%), fabricators (19%), followed the District Commercial Officers (6%), farmers (3%) and traders (3%). Category of Participants of the training in Eastern Uganda Grain millers 19% 3% 3% 6% 69% Fabricators District Commercial Officers Farmers Traders District representation of the training in Eastern Uganda 28% 23% 27% 22% Mbale Tororo Sironko Iganga 7

3.2 TRAINING SESSIONS 3.2.1 PRESENTATION ON THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ON THE MAIZE MILLS AND HAMMER MILLS FABRICATORS IN UGANDA The first presenter for both the trainings was Mr. Kassim Semanda from the Department of Industry, MTIC. He presented the findings of the study on the maize mill and hammer mills fabricators in Uganda; where the emphasis of the study was on hygiene of the grain milling facilities and equipment, storage conditions of the equipment, raw material and finished products. It also pointed out the quality of the hammer milling fabrication in Uganda. From the findings of this study, it was concluded that the hygiene and storage conditions in the grain milling facilities and the quality of hammer mill fabrication in Uganda are still below the minimum standards that the Ministry of trade, Industry and Cooperatives requires from the Grain milling subsector if the sector is to effectively compete in national, regional and international markets. Therefore, in the recommendations of the study, it was suggested that there was need for the key players in the grain milling industry to be trained on issues of hygiene and storage conditions and the quality of hammer mills to be used for grain mills. The study also found out that few of the grain milling SMEs had insured their businesses; and so there was an argue of the need for grain millers and fabricators to insure their businesses. 3.2.2 PRESENTATIONS OF FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE IN MAIZE MILLING ESTABLISHMENTS. The subsequent presentations in both the trainings at MTAC Nakawa and Mbale were facilitated by FSA experts. The presentations were categorized into different hygiene, good manufacturing and food safety modules which followed a sequential order as below; Module 1: Introduction to food safety and applicable laws An overview of what food safety Its importance in any their establishments The different food hazards in a cereal handling premise Different illnesses and health consequences of unsafe cereal consumption The different laws which affect maize safety. Module 2: Personal Hygiene 8

Body care in cereal handling premises Dressing for work in cereal handling premises Personal health consciousness of cereal handlers Hand washing Module 3: Cleaning and Disinfection in cereal establishments Importance of cleaning cereal premises Common cleaning mistakes Cleaning cycle and techniques in a cereal premise Cleaning procedure for selected items and surfaces in a cereal handling premise Cleaning procedure of the discharge spout Module 4: Buildings and Facilities Hygiene of the External environment (grounds/premises) Sanitation operations (Pest Control) Sanitary facilities and controls Equipment Hygiene Module 5: Purchase, Transportation and Delivery of cereals Hygiene considerations during Purchase of Raw materials Hygiene considerations during Loading and Transportation of cereal products Hygiene considerations during Delivery Module 6: Storage Hygiene considerations during Storage of raw materials/unprocessed cereals Hygiene considerations during Storage of processed/ready products Module 7: Product processing Hygiene considerations during Product Processing 9

Module 8: Product packing and packaging Hygiene considerations during Product packing and Packaging Module 9: Product Dispatch Hygiene considerations during Product Dispatch In the first training at MTAC Nakawa, Dr. Ananias Bagumire, the Lead Expert of FSA facilitated the first four modules starting with the first Module: Introduction to Food Safety and Laws that affect Cereal Safety. In his training, he gave an opportunity to the participants to give their views of how they understand the term Food Safety, and the different concepts which were under discussion. Mr. Roland Karumuna, the second FSA facilitator discussed the last four modules where his emphasis was more on the hygiene of the milling facilities, equipment and their environment. He also pointed out the different hygiene and safety precautions during processing, handling and storage of raw materials and finished grain products. While for the second training, that was in Mbale district; Ms. Gloria Arinaitwe facilitated the first four modules in which she reminded the trainees about the different laws and acts that affect the grain millers and other key players should always put into consideration and guided them on the different hygienic precautions that the grain processors have to address so as to ensure hygienically safe grain products as in the modules above. Mr. Roland Karumuna, the second FSA facilitator of the second training discussed the last four modules where his emphasis was still more on the hygiene of the milling facilities, equipment and their environment. He also pointed out the different hygiene and safety precautions during processing, handling and storage of raw materials and finished grain products. 3.2.3 PRESENTATION ON THE BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS ON QUALITY AND SAFE HAMMER MILLING MACHINES The last presentation in both trainings was about hammer mill Fabrication. This was conducted by Mr. Boso Bernard. He provided participants in both trainings the basic knowledge and skills on how to select a good quality grain mill which is food grade, how to identify poor quality grain mills and for the fabricators who participated, they wer guided on how to choose appropriate material for manufacturing high quality and safe hammer grain milling machines which are food 10

grade. The impacts of using and selling hammer mills fabricated out of non-food grade materials were also pointed out and these included; Metal contamination of the finished products due to the wearing of the hammer mill Increased risks of chronic diseases like cancer due to consumption of metal contaminated grain floor. High costs of maintenance of the hammer; as it is not durable 3.3 AWARD OF CERTIFICATES At the end of each training workshop, each of the participants including the District Commercial Officers was awarded a certificate of training that signified that he/she had attended and completed the training in Enhancing Food Safety, Quality and Implementation of Standards for grain millers and Hammer Mill Fabricators. In the training at MTAC Nakawa, the certificates were awarded to the participants by the KCCA Commercial Officer while for the training in Mbale district, the certificates were awarded to the participants by their respective District Commercial Officers 4.0 MONITORING MECHANISMS TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THE TRAINING TO THE TRAINED GRAIN MILLING AND HAMMER MILL FABRICATION SMEs IN THE SELECTED REGIONS After the training on Enhancing Food Safety, Quality and Implementation of Standards for Grain millers and Hammer Mill Fabricators, the impact of the training to the trainee SMEs will be assessed basing on; Significant changes in cognitive outcomes, such as the amount of information learned as evidenced by improved working processes based on the appropriate standards. Changes in skill-based outcomes, such as improvement in safety and quality of production, against an appropriate standard like hygiene code of practices Changes in effective outcomes, such as high level of personal hygiene and equipment hygiene in milling facilities, positive attitude of the floor staff towards cleaning of facilities among others. The above assessment will be conducted through; 1. Regular inspections 11

Regular inspection of the grain milling facilities and the hammer mill fabricators. The inspections of the grain milling facilities will have their basis on the Code of practice for Food Hygiene Inspection while for the inspection of the hammer mill fabricators, regulations on the good manufacturing practices to be used should be drafted and approved. These regular inspections will be conducted by the district or municipal inspectors health inspectors and the respective District Commercial Officers. The officials/inspectors from UNBS, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) at any one moment can also do evaluation inspections. 2. Auditing Another way of assessing the impact of the training will be through auditing. These audits can be internal or external. For the case of internal auditing, the trained Grain milling SMEs and hammer mill fabricators arrange internal audits so as to assess the impact of the training on their food safety systems. Food Safety Associates Ltd recommends that MTIC should support and facilitate these internal audits in some of the trained SMEs. While for the case of external audits, MTIC can as well organize external audits in the trained SMEs. This will enable both the ministry and the audited SMEs to identify their areas of improvement and weakness so as to maintain the improvements and work on their weaknesses. These external audits can also be done by officials from UNBS, MTIC and the district officials. 3. Certification After the inspections and auditing have been conducted and corrective actions have been implemented, those trained SMEs that qualify for either Q or S marks can be certified with those marks so as to distinguish them from the others who are not yet implementing standards and not putting into consideration quality and food safety in their establishments. This will provide a competitive basis for the certified SMEs and as well argue other SMEs to start implementing the required standards, thus adding value to Uganda s trade. 12