Arusha, Tanzania – 24 October 2025
The Eastern and Southern African Management Institute’s Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (ESAMI–trapca), in collaboration with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and the East African Community (EAC), successfully convened a Regional Training Workshop on Navigating Cross-Border Trade of Agroecological Products from 20 – 24 October 2025 in Arusha.
Opening the various programs, including this workshop, ESAMI Director-General Dr Peter Kiuluku welcomed participants drawn from the eight EAC Partner States and commended their commitment to advancing inclusive and sustainable trade in agroecological products. He emphasised ESAMI’s role in strengthening Africa’s human and institutional capacity to drive the African and resilient value chains.
The week-long training equipped participants with practical skills to navigate customs and border procedures through the Simplified Trade Regime (STR), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) compliance, Rules of Origin (RoO), and Non-Tariff Barrier (NTB) reporting. The sessions combined policy dialogue with hands-on exercises. A highlight of the programme was the learning visit to the Namanga One-Stop Border Post (OSBP), where participants observed coordinated border management, digital progress, and practical application of the STR in facilitating small-scale agroecological trade.
The workshop also introduced the Agroecological Trade Knowledge Hub (ATKH) — a regional digital platform designed to help women and youth traders access up-to-date trade information, report NTBs, and strengthen product compliance. Participants commended ESAMI-trapca and AFSA for their leadership in integrating trade facilitation, sustainability, and inclusion, reaffirming East Africa’s readiness to operationalise AfCFTA provisions for the benefit of local producers and border communities.
