6 - 7 June 2022. Food safety. A critical pillar in strengthening Resilience in nutrition and food security in Africa Commemoration of the World Food Safety Day. By African Union

2. Why Africa needs a Continental Food Safety
Strategy
• Unsafe food have huge public health and economic impacts for the continent.
• Food safety hazards are responsible for approximately 137,000 deaths and about 91
million cases of acute foodborne illnesses in Africa.
• Unsafe foods cost low- and middle-income economies mainly Sub- Saharan and
Southeast Asia economies the equivalent of $110 billion in lost productivity and
medical expenses alone each year.
• Unsafe food undermine the goals of ending hunger and tripling intra-Africa trade in
agricultural products leading to lost opportunities in food trade gains.
• The urgent need to implement a continental food safety strategy to raise food safety
standards in Africa to protect the health of consumers in Africa and enhance market
access of agricultural products.

3. Decisions mandating the development of a
Continental Food Safety Strategy
•EX.CL/Dec. 1074(XXXVI) (2020) – Decision on the endorsement and
implementation of the AU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Policy
Framework
•Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.1(X) - “The Agreement on the African Continental
Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Annexes to the Protocol on Trade in Goods –
Annex 7 Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures – requirements on food
safety
•Food Safety Strategy for Africa provides an overarching framework for
implementing the food safety component of the AU SPS Policy
Framework and Annex 7 of the AfCFTA Agreement.

4. Process used to develop the Food Safety Strategy
for Africa
Technical
discussions and
validation from
October 2020 –
September 2021
Approval by the 4th
Specialized Technical
Committee on
Agriculture Rural
Development Water
and Environment
December 2021
Endorsement by
the 40th Ordinary
Session of the
Executive
Council,
February 2022
Endorsement by
the 35th Ordinary
Session of the
AU Assembly of
Heads of States
February 2022

5. Strengthencapacitytomanagefoodsafetyrisksalongthefoodvaluechain
StrategicObjectives
SO1
Strengthenfoodsafety
policy,legaland
institutional
frameworks
SO2
Strengthenthehuman
andinfrastructure
capacityforfood
controlsystems
SO3
Promotefoodsafety
culture,evidence-
basedadvocacy,
communication,
informationand
knowledge
SO5
Strengthenresearch,
innovation,technology
development and
transfer
SO6
Establishandstrengthen
coordinationmechanisms
andenhancecooperation
andinvestments
SO4
Facilitatetradeand
marketaccessat
national,regional,
continentalandglobal
levels
EnhancedConsumerProtection
ExpectedOutcomes IncreasedSafeFoodTrade
Contributetoimprovedpublichealth,foodandnutritionsecurity,sustainablelivelihoodsandeconomic
growth
Goal
TheFood Safety Strategyfor Africa –Results Framework

6. Some notable short and medium-term strategic
actions
• Technical appraisal of food safety capacities in Member States using internationally recognized tools
and technical assistance to address identified capacity gaps
• Review and strengthen food safety legal frameworks and their harmonisation
• Operationalize continental food regulation and inspection training programme to influence practice
• Engage relevant Civil Society Organizations to roll out awareness raising and advocacy program on
food safety
• Promote application of evidence-based toolkits and user-friendly innovations in the management of
food safety in informal food sectors
• Establish an African Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
• Establish/strengthen coordinating mechanisms to address food safety challenges in a One-Health

7. All stakeholders are critical to the successful
implementation of the Food Safety Strategy for
Africa
African Union
Commission
(AUC)
Regional
Economic
Communities
(RECs)
Member
States (MS)
International
Standard
Setting Bodies
(ISSB) (IPPC,
OIE, Codex)
The United
Nations
System and
International
Organizations
(UN and IO)
Development
Partners (DP)
Civil Society,
Non-
Governmental
Organizations
and the
Private Sector
(CSO, NGO,
PS)

8. For more information contact
Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy
and Sustainable Environment
African Union Headquarters
P.O. Box 3243, Roosvelt Street W21K19
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: Noualas@Africa-union.org
Thank You