Senior Scientist, AKADEMIYA2063 A Paradigm Shift in Food Safety for Africa Dr. Fatima Kareem Team: Amare Ayalew, Fatima Kareem & Delia Grace

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Introduction • Africa’s food safety (FS) system is fraught with a mirage of challenges. ● Poor investment and budgetary allocation. ● Fragmented food system management. ● Poor quality infrastructure. • These challenges undermine the pace of food system transformation in the continent. ● Unsafe food – adverse implications on public health. ● Aggravate food and nutrition security problems. ● Market access problems. • Thus, the need to tackle food safety problem. It is critical to the achievement of the SDGs and the the Malabo declaration commitments. ● Halving poverty. ● Ending hunger. ● Tripling intra-Africa trade.

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Introduction • However, there has been a recent prioritisation of food safety in Africa, which is encouraging. There are some paradigm shifts in policies and initiatives. • There are need for transformative ideas and actions to enable policies feed positively on Africa’s food system transformation efforts. • Thus, our ATOR chapter provides information on food safety in Africa while also buttressing the continued progresses and pragmatic changes needed to strengthen Africa’s food safety landscape. • Highlight the missing links that might constraints paradigm shift in food safety policies and practices – these are hope to inform discussions around post-Malabo Declaration.

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Background: African Food Safety Landscape Food Safety Governance • The MS are at the forefront of control functions. Support from RECs and the AU. • National food control system – competent authorities and agencies saddled with oversight functions. • The management of FS is highly fragmented – managed by multiple groups, agencies, competent authorities. Sub-optimal use of scarce resources (Jaffee et al., 2019). • Emerging paradigm shift in some countries – setting up single-agency food system control systems – Gambia and Egypt. • Less or no role for the private sector, consumers, food business operators, informal sector.

Background: African Food Safety Landscape Evidence to Africa’s Food Safety Control Capacity ● Capacity has generally been below satisfactory levels. ● WHO International Health Regulation Ratings (IHR). ● IHR provides a legal framework in relation to FBD surveillance and responses to emergencies. ● Scaling is 1-5, 47 African countries with 1-2 (20-40% capacity level). Figure 1: Africa’s IHR scores, 2010 to 2017

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Stocktaking of Food Safety Policies in Africa Policy Agenda 1) AU SPS Policy Framework – roadmap for a harmonized, modernised, and coordinated system. 2) SPS Annex VII of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 3) Food Safety Strategy for Africa (AU, 2022) – the implementation strategy of the SPS Framework’s implementation strategy. ● “Shared Responsibility” in management of food safety. Government; private food operator, consumers as risk managers. Other Initiatives 1) Benchmarks for food safety curriculum – East African Community (EAC). 2) Partnership for Aflatoxin control in Africa. 3) Guidelines for Harmonising FS standards and legislations (AUC, 2020)

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Missing Links in Food Safety Management • Generating credible evidence for risk assessment constrain food safety management - Inform knowledge about FBD and risks; - Efficiently allocate resources to control, prevent and intervene; - Engage in evidenced-based food safety policies. - Technology divide – big data, AI, blockchain, genome sequencing in profiling risks. • The informal sector and domestic markets – more focus on the foreign trade and market access issues. • Weak or missing investment framework and incentives which preclude the adequate budgetary allocation to FS issues and management. • Poor implementation capacity – food safety workforce, quality infrastructure. agencies, competent authorities. Sub-optimal use of scarce resources (Jaffee et al., 2019). • Food safety culture and norms – poor consumers’ consciousness and safe food demand. Needing behavioural change interventions.

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Some Paradigm Shift in Focus • A focus is “shared responsibility” to solve the complexity in the landscape. • Initiative to improve credible food safety data – AU developing food safety data hub for Africa with sound risk assessment. Needs complementary capacity and investment. • Shifting from the decades old of focus on only the export markets and high value formal markets to informal food sector. This is at the heart of food and nutrition security. • AUC is working to develop and test innovative models for regulating the informal sector by AU Member states. • Efforts to strengthen technical food safety manpower in the continent. E.g. benchmarking curriculum in EAC. This should be replicated in other regions of the continent. • A paradigm shift in the financing landscape. Sustainable financing is a mark of mature food safety governance. Investments enable financing of quality infrastructure and technical capacity to enact and enforce FS measures.

#2023ReSAKSS #2023ATOR Conclusion • With these paradigm shift in action, the future of Africa’s food safety system and transformation will witness pareto improvement. • Together we can do it - shared responsibility.

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