The Brussels Development Briefing no. 52 on “Food safety: a critical part of the food system in Africa ” took place on 19 September 2018 from 09h00 to 13h00, ACP Secretariat, Brussels 451 Avenue Georges Henri, 1200 Brussels. This Briefing was organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with the European Commission (DG DEVCO & DG Health and Food Safety), the ACP Secretariat, CONCORD and the Global Food Safety Partnership.

1. Food Safety in Africa:
Past Endeavors and Future Directions
Brussels Briefing n.52
Lystra N. Antoine
CEO, GFSP

2. • Upgrade regulatory systems to
reduce the public health burden of
food borne disease for domestic
consumers and to encourage
trade
• Promote food safety systems
based upon prevention and
underpinned by science; and
• Advocate that the SDGs are
unattainable without the
achievement of adequate, Safe
and nutritious food for all.
GFSP Key Principles Main Messages
• Food Safety is multidimensional,
integrated and indispensable to
achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals.
• Goals, Priorities, Strategies and
Investments for food safety
capacity building should take into
consideration the Public Health
burden of foodborne illness.
• Greater synergies must be
achieved between the public
sector and private sector capacity
building efforts

3. Food Safety is a Mainstream Economic Development Issue
TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF FOOD
SAFETY
IMPROVED FOOD SAFETY
CRITICAL TO THE
ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SDGS
•Food safety integral to:
• SDG1 End Poverty
• SDG2 Zero Hunger
• SDG 3 Good Health & Well Being
•Food safety (practice) contributes to:
• SDG5 Gender Equality
• SDG Clean Water & Sanitation
• SDG8 Decent Work & Economic Growth
• SDG11 Sustainable Cities & Communities
The lack of explicit attention to food safety in the SDGs stems from the low evidence base of the burden of
foodborne disease and the overall low awareness of development practitioners about the economic
significance of unsafe food.

4. • 2015 SDGs adopted: Food safety is necessary for attaining poverty,
hunger, health goals
• 2015 WHO reports burden of FBD comparable in magnitude to
malaria, HIV/AIDs or TB. 2018 attribution studies show consumption
of risky food increasing fast in LMICs implying FBD will get worse
• Repeated high profile food scares – 2017-2018 world’s largest
listeriosis outbreak in South Africa
Recent Developments

5. SSA Food Safety Landscape
QUESTION: How best to mobilize, target and
coordinate public and private investment?
 New evidence of the very large health and economic burden of foodborne disease in SSA
- Highest per capita health burden
 Agri-food systems are characterized by many hazards but limited understanding of their presence,
prevalence and contribution to health risks.
 Rapidly growing and urbanizing population needing safe & nutritious food
 Heavy dependence by domestic consumers on informal markets for food
Produce and animal sourced food are significant contributors to food borne disease
 Food Safety underpins the region’s agriculture and development strategies (Malabo Declaration)
 National governments are responsible for ensuring safe food, and international donor organizations
have been major providers of investments.

6. The Global Fund for
HIV/AIDS
Tuberculosis and
Malaria raises and
invests up to
USD 4 billion
per year!
Largest donor pledges in 2017 include:
Australia 69 mil
Canada 272 mil
EC 170 mil
France 360 mil
Germany 277 mil
Japan 172 mil
Netherlands 54 mil
Norway 600 mil
Sweden 800 mil
UK 470 mil
US 1.4 bil
Food Borne Illness has a health burden comparable to Malaria,
HIV/AIDS or Tuberculosis (Havelaar et al., 2015).

7. Causes of Food Borne Disease
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
zoonoses
non
zoonoses
Havelaar et al., 2015
Global Burden of FBD in LMICs (DALYs)

8. Goals of the Food Safety in Africa Report
Improvement in the quantity and quality of food safety capacity
building in sub-Saharan Africa by providing information and
analysis that public and private sector can use to better target
their investments.
The capacity building needs in Africa far outstrip current efforts.
This makes it imperative to better target, prioritize and coordinate
public and private efforts and find synergies that can help
maximize the food safety and development benefits of capacity
investments.

9. Project Methodology
• Compiled and analyzed data on over 500 projects funded by 30
donor organizations since 2010
• Gained input from over 200 experts and stakeholders,
• Described food safety landscape and governance framework for
food safety capacity building
• Made key findings and recommendations

10. Project Advisory Panel
• Renata Clarke, FAO
• Kelley Cormier, USAID
• Melvin Spreij or Marilyn Hopper, STDF
• Steve Jaffee, IBRD and IDA/World Bank
Group
• Barry Lee, IFC/World Bank Group
• Paul Mayers or Rolf Schoenert, Canada
• Morag Webb, COLEACP
• Amare Ayalew, AUC/PACA
• Raphael Coly, AU-IBAR
• Ruth Oniang’o, Rural Outreach Africa
• Stephen Muchiri, East Africa Farmers
Federation
• Prof. Bassirou Bonfoh, CSRS, Cote
d’Ivoire
• Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, Bells
University of Technology, Nigeria
• Noreen Machila, University of Zambia
• Tony Huggett/John Bee, Nestle
• Dave Crean/Bob Baker, Mars
• Anne Gerardi, GFSI
• Les Bourquin, Michigan State
• Emanuela Montanari-Stephens, USDA-
FAS

11. Three sets of evidence provide context for the report
The very large and likely worsening health burden of
foodborne disease
The current dominance and future persistence of informal
markets
Increasing consumer concern over food safety.

12. Result 1: Complicated, dynamic landscape

13. Result 2: Food Safety Investments Helpful but Small
• Donor investment since 2010 difficult to quantify but likely
less than $40 million a year. Small in relation to burden and
investments in other health areas.
• Relatively few large donors (EC, US, FAO and WHO play
lead roles) with World Bank and AfDB playing increasing
roles.
•Donor food safety investments overwhelmingly focused on
supporting overseas market access.
•Relatively little donor investment to directly reduce the FBD
burden in informal markets through surveillance systems,
public awareness, research, etc.
•Over 50% projects address FS through improved gov’t
capacity rather than support to pvte sector capacity for hazard
prevention and verification

14. Result 3: Expert Concerns
• Stakeholders and experts have high concern over public health
impacts of food safety
• Modern food safety management is applied to export but not to
informal markets where most African consumers buy food
• Focus still on hazards with little information on, or attention to, risks
(human health impacts)
• Old-fashioned “control and command” thinking dominates & market
and demand led approaches little used
•Substantial focus on chemical risks and too little on biological
hazards and their risks to human health

15. Recommendations: Path forward
• Health first: Governments and donors need to prioritize
investments to better address the public health of
domestic consumers dependent on informal markets.
• Risk-based: Build capacity for well-governed,
evidence-and risk-based food safety systems.
• Market-led: Harness marketplace drivers of progress
on food safety.

16. Timeline, Next Steps, & Contacts
• Final report in late 2018
• Aspire to apply learnings to specific country and value
chain challenges
• For more information, contact: www.gfsp.org

17. VISIT GFSP.ORG
THANK YOU!