Case Study

Improving quality in Ghana’s cocoa industry

 

Summary

The provision of world class inspection services is key to the consistent delivery of quality agricultural produce to local and international markets, and in ensuring compliance to customer and regulatory requirements. Building the capacity of conformity assessment bodies, particularly in developing countries, is therefore extremely important, if they are to remain competitive in the global economy.

In Ghana, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is responsible for ensuring the consistent delivery of premium quality cocoa beans to clients, and inspection continues to play a significant role in this regard. Although there have been structures and standards in place to ensure that inspection activities are carried out by professionally trained staff in an impartial and independent manner, these structures and standards implemented and maintained did not always comply with internationally accepted standards for inspection.

The establishment, implementation, and maintenance of an ISO 17020:2012 Quality Management System (QMS) by the Quality Control Company Limited (QCC), the subsidiary of COCOBOD mandated to inspect cocoa beans, and the subsequent accreditation of the QMS, has resulted in the adoption of international best practices in the inspection industry, and a continual improvement in the provision of its inspection services.

The maintenance of an accredited ISO 17020 QMS will ensure the sustainability of the entire cocoa industry through the provision of world class inspection services that ensure the consistent delivery of premium quality beans to clients, and compliance to customer and regulatory requirements.

Background

Although there are established regulations and procedures for the inspection of cocoa beans in Ghana, there are a few instances where cocoa beans delivered to COCOBOD’s warehouses, and sometimes to clients, have not met the required quality standards, resulting in some financial losses to the Board. More often than not, a few lapses in the inspection process have been identified and cited as the reason for this, including the use of non-uniform inspection methods and procedures by some inspectors.

As global customer and regulatory requirements become more stringent, the establishment, implementation and maintenance of an ISO 17020 QMS in order to guarantee the consistent delivery of premium quality beans to clients of COCOBOD became an imperative.

The subsequent accreditation of the QMS by the German National Accreditation Body, DAkkS, is another firm indicator of COCOBOD’s resolve and commitment to the adoption and maintenance of international best practices as regards inspection, in order to ensure the consistent delivery of premium quality cocoa beans.

Strategy

The United Nations Industrial and Development Organization (UNIDO) in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) facilitated the accreditation of the Quality Control Company Limited (COCOBOD) to ISO/IEC 17020 – Conformity Assessment – requirements for various types of bodies performing inspection. This was achieved through the UNIDO-MOTI Trade Capacity Building Project which was aimed at building the capacity of Ghanaian Enterprises for them to remain competitive in the global economy.

The Accreditation covers the following areas of inspection:

i. Inspection of the suitability of warehouses for inspection activities
ii. Inspection of the packaging of cocoa beans
iii. Inspection of cocoa beans

Results and impact

The implementation and maintenance of an accredited ISO 17020 QMS has resulted in regular refresher trainings for inspectors, thus improving the uniformity of inspection processes. This has also resulted in improved professionalism in the provision of inspection services on the part of personnel involved in the performance of inspection activities.

The timely implementation of corrective and preventive actions has also prevented the recurrence of operational non-conformities, and occurrence of potential non-conformities.

The adherence to equipment calibration programmes has increased confidence in the accuracy and reliability of the results of inspection.

The maintenance of a record system especially, has also enabled inspection activities to be directly traced to inspection reports and certificates.

Regular internal quality audits and management reviews have also contributed to significant improvement in the inspection of cocoa beans, which is the core business of QCC.

Owing to the relative success of the QMS in the 4 Accredited Sites of the QCC, the QMS has now been rolled out, established, and being implemented in all operational sites of the company in the country.

An assessment of the direct impact of the accredited QMS on the quality of beans delivered to exit and destination ports is currently underway.

Contact

Ms. Safoa Abena OSEI (Chief Technical Advisor and National Coordinator, GQSP Ghana) a.osei@unido.org