Africa’s Food Safety Experts Call For Urgent Reforms At ACAFP Conference In Ogun
•By Admin
IBADAN – FOOD safety stakeholders from across Africa have called for accelerated reforms, increased funding and stronger collaboration to tackle the continent’s heavy burden of foodborne diseases, estimated at about 91 million cases and 137,000 deaths annually.
The call was made at the 3rd African Continental Association for Food Protection (ACAFP) Food Safety Conference held on Wednesday at the Ogere Resort, Ogere-Remo, Ogun State.
The conference, themed “Enhancing Food Systems for Improved Public Health, Trade Competitiveness and Economic Growth in Africa,” drew about 200 participants from government agencies, regional organisations, the private sector, academia, and research and development institutions within and outside the continent.
Through keynote speeches, plenary and technical sessions, poster presentations and exhibitions, delegates examined the state of food safety systems in Africa, challenges to effective regulation, and the need for innovation to protect public health and strengthen trade competitiveness.
Participants underscored that food safety remains a critical element of food security, covering concerns such as microbial contamination, physical hazards, food fraud, and chemical contaminants, including mycotoxins, pesticide residues, antimicrobial residues and heavy metals.
The conference noted that limited awareness, low compliance with best practices, high testing costs and weak collaboration among stakeholders continue to undermine efforts to ensure safe food across food value chains.
Delegates stressed the need for affordable, reliable and “fit-for-purpose” testing methods that can be easily accessed by all actors, particularly small-scale producers and informal food vendors, who dominate the sector in most African countries.
They observed that, despite efforts to expand access to testing and enhance detection of food hazards and foodborne diseases, major gaps remain, especially in the largely unregulated informal sector.
Findings from stakeholder mapping and awareness assessments presented at the conference showed that while the formal food sector is relatively regulated and monitored, informal actors operate with minimal oversight, posing significant food safety risks.
The conference recommended integrating the informal sector into food safety interventions and developing inclusive, evidence-based policies that reflect realities on the ground.
Delegates also highlighted community engagement as a vital tool for changing unsafe practices, reiterating the slogan, “Food Safety is Everybody’s Business.”
They called for sustained education campaigns beyond conventional platforms, including outreach in markets and places of worship, as well as the integration of food safety education into general studies curricula at various levels of education.
In its communiqué, the conference urged public-sector institutions at national and sub-national levels to strengthen policy frameworks and improve grassroots dissemination and enforcement of food safety regulations.
Stakeholders also called on governments and the private sector to increase financing for food safety research, surveillance and programme implementation, describing funding gaps as a major constraint to evidence-based policymaking.
Participants further advocated a coordinated “One Health” approach to addressing food safety issues that intersect food security, animal health, environmental health and public health.
They emphasized that behavioural change across the food system is essential to reducing foodborne diseases and requires collaboration among public and private institutions, researchers and community actors.
The conference urged that food safety be prioritized as both a public health necessity and a trade imperative, with youth- and gender-responsive approaches to ensure inclusivity and sustainability.
It also called for innovative strategies – including shared laboratory facilities and wider adoption of cost-effective testing methods – to expand testing access across the continent.
Delegates concluded by stressing the importance of translating research findings into practical, user-friendly knowledge accessible to farmers, traders, processors and aggregators, especially those with limited literacy, to ensure that scientific advances translate into safer food for all Africans.