Why Food Safety Matters to Africa: Making the Case for Policy Action


Steven Jaffee, Spencer Henson, Delia Grace, 
Mateo Ambrosio, and Franck Berthe

Main Messages
Rapid urbanization and dietary change in Africa provide major commercial opportunities yet also major societal challenges. Perhaps the greatest challenge in the upcoming decade will pertain to mitigating widespread and emerging food safety risks.
 
Food safety has been on Africa’s development agenda almost solely as a trade and market access issue. Domestic food safety has featured a data void, policy gap, and systematic underinvestment. 

Unsafe food is already yielding high public health and economic costs in Africa and these will grow enormously in the coming years in a ‘business as usual’ scenario (of reactive, uncoordinated measures)

Yet, many of these costs are avoidable. Through preventative public policy measures, smarter investment and a paradigm shift in food safety governance and stakeholder engagement - calibrated to all levels of economic development. 





Traditional Image of Food Safety
Food Safety critical to ACHIEVING the SDGs 
Food safety is foundational to:




Food safety is integral to:


Food safety is a mainstream economic development issue for Africa


When food safety has been on Africa’s development agenda it has largely been in relation to trade and market access



There is a strong public health imperative for domestic food safety action
Burden
Much of SSA: highest proportional burden of foodborne disease (FBD) in the world (i.e. DALYs per 100,000 people)
Most vulnerable: young, old, malnourished, poor, pregnant and immunocompromised. 
2018 (est.) for Africa: 135 million cases of foodborne illness and 180,000 deaths (of which children <5:  60+ million cases and 60,000 + deaths)
Sources
African populations exposed to a broad range of food safety hazards
Most FBD is associated with microbial pathogens (e.g. salmonella; E.coli, etc); next in prominence are heavy metals; chronic exposure to aflatoxins
Animal-sourced foods; fruits & vegetables; cereals


There is a strong commercial imperative for domestic food safety action
The economic costs of unsafe food take many forms with both short- and long-term dimensions
Productivity losses due to unsafe food cost Africa some $20 billion/year This is 40 to 50 times the trade-related costs






For some SSA countries these costs are proportionally amongst the highest in the world
For many African countries, the economic costs of unsafe food will rise in the coming years in a ‘business as usual’ scenario:The FOOD SAFETY LIFECYCLE
Avoidable costs and losses? 
Reflects the relationship or gap between food safety needs and actual capabilities and incentives
Low diet diversity
Weak incentives
Weak capacity
Rapid dietary diversity
Changing risks
Lagging capacity and
incentives
Formal sector responds
to consumer demands
Growing public capacity
Stronger incentives
Mature demand
Risks well-managed
Periodic failures lead 
to rapid response
Many African countries are here




What is ‘business as usual’ in many African countries?
Investments and Institutions: 
Fragmented and Uncoordinated
Timing: 
Reactive Rather Than Preventive
Regulatory Delivery: Emphasis on Detecting Non-compliance, Not Leveraging Private Action


Capacity (and underinvestment) matters, a lot: FBD from animal products differs greatly among African countries
A significant share of Africa’s food safety problems and associated costs are avoidable if a concerted set of preventive measures are put in place (from farm to fork and at the overall food system governance level)

Yet, there are no simple solutions or quick fixes to the myriad of food safety challenges faced in Africa; this is a long-term collective agenda (at sub-national, national, regional and international levels)
Looking forward…
To mainstream food safety in the development agenda we need to think holistically about what constitutes “investment in safer food” and better measure impacts
Knowledge & Innovation
Clean Water & Sanitation
Market & Logistical Infrastructure
Application of 
GAP, GAHP, GMP 
Food Control System
Consumer Education & Engagement
Food Trade 
Facilitation
Quality Assurance


And combine generic strategies with varied priorities for countries at different stages of agro-food system transformation
Generic Areas
Paradigm shift toward shared responsibility model
Approaches to invest more (smartly) in food safety
Emphasis on leveraging private investment and initiative
Regulatory delivery to focus on enabling compliance more than punishing non-compliance
Different priorities between countries at Traditional, Transitional and Modernizing Stages*

Policy, strategy and regulations
Risk assessment
Risk management
Information, education, and communication
*Also see The Safe Food Imperative (2019)
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org
Thank you