HACCP implementation in Ugandan agro-processing SMEs
A three-year study of what makes food safety systems stick — and what makes them quietly disappear after certification.
Between 2022 and 2025 we followed forty-two agro-processing SMEs through their journey with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). The findings are both encouraging and sobering.
Certification is the easy part
Eighty-six percent of enrolled firms achieved initial certification within eighteen months. Two years later, fewer than half were still operating a functional HACCP plan. The gap sits almost entirely in supervisory routines, record-keeping discipline and staff turnover.
A lighter, sticky model
We piloted a simplified 'HACCP-lite' framework co-designed with owner-operators. Early results show a 30-point improvement in adherence at eighteen months compared with the conventional roll-out.
