African agriculture and rural sectors have always suffered from neglect and underinvestment over a long period of time and a very small amount of official investment assistance goes to the rural areas. Harnessing this BABA/COMESA partnership will potentially contribute to the development, which will require success in two important areas: improving smallholder competitiveness, in high and medium areas, where returns to investment are highest, giving more people access to high quality packaged food products. Value addition means: better return and quality of life for the people producing the food products.

• "Be fully integrated, internationally competitive regional economic community, with high standards of living for all its people ready to merge into an African Economic Community"

• Establish groundbreaking BABA/COMESA Centre's of Excellence, which has the most dynamic and refreshing approach for all those involved in the COMESA Member States

• Create state of the art Centre's of Excellence, where all aspects of packaging can be taught

• Raise the profile of African packaging technology around the world

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