Hyderabad to host 2nd National Spice Conference on Nov 18-19: WSO champions food safety and farmer income

World Spice Organization (WSO) is set to host the 2nd National Spice Conference (NSC) in Hyderabad on November 18th and 19th. As the technical partner of the All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), WSO aims to provide a crucial platform for discussions within the Indian spice industry, fostering collaboration between farmer producers, FPOs, and Spice Manufacturers and Traders.

WSO is organizing the conference in collaboration with GIZ and IDH- the Sustainable Trade Initiative. Rainforest Alliance is the sustainability partner for the event.

This year’s NSC will revolve around the theme — “Food Safe Spices: The Way Forward to a Stable & Sustainable Income.”

The conference will comprehensively address all nodes and aspects of the spice supply chain, offering a 360° perspective on food safety and its positive impacts on income and profit.

The business-focused segment will feature sessions on ‘Increasing income through Sustainable & Eco-friendly Practices and Tech-Driven Farming,’ ‘Food Safety and Compliance,’ ‘Funding opportunities for farmers/FPOs,’ ‘Better input management and improving productivity,’ and ‘Innovative Processes and Market Trends.’

Ramkumar Menon, Chairman, World Spice Organisation, said “Resuming from the conclusions drawn at last NSC, this year we focus on positive impacts of food safety on income and profit to the farming community. Through the conference, we hope to promote food-safe spices and sustainable farmer income. The future of the food and agriculture sector depends on raising and stabilizing farmer income, which fluctuates for many reasons. Farm revenue stability over a range of situations can increase the economic viability and sustainability of farms, ensuring food production for a growing population with rising food demand. The conference will focus on how food safety boosts quality and profitability for spice farmers.”

The FPOs and NGOs participating in the event will represent nearly 25,000 farmers associated with the National Sustainable Spice Program (NSSP) – another flagship programme of the World Spice Organisation aimed at increasing the production of food-safe and sustainable spices in India and ensuring market access to such sustainably produced goods, he said.