African Union and research institute draft food safety guidelines for informal markets

14 Jun 2024 --- The African Union (AU) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are collaborating to produce the first framework for the informal food sector and address its food safety challenges. The engagements will be multi-sectoral, spanning all 55 African member states, with guidelines supporting governments to improve food safety across the continent, where the norm is that consumers buy food in an informal setting.

The draft guidelines have been developed according to the AU’s Food Safety Strategy for Africa, published in 2021, to encourage improvements in food safety management. 

“The guidelines call for action at three main levels, increasing the recognition of the informal food sector as critical to countries’ economies, health, food security and livelihoods, in particular for women and the youth,” Silvia Alonso, principal scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), tells Nutrition Insight. 

“It seeks to enhance inclusive participation of the informal food sector into policy processes; and finally increased investments in the food sector, including inclusive and meaningful upgrade of infrastructure, capacity building, financial services and sustainable government budget assigned to support such gradual transformation of the informal food sector.”

The AU and ILRI will consult with informal sector partners to refine the guidelines. The consultation process with member states will be well into 2025, when it will be presented to the AU policy bodies for approval.

Cornerstone of food system change
Africa’s informal sector is critical for food security, employment and livelihoods. Approximately 70% of Africa’s urban households buy food from informal markets, which include street vendors, kiosks and traditional market sellers.

Alonso notes: “The guidelines are designed to progressively enhance the informal food sector’s capacity, both technical and in terms of know-how, to adopt best food handling and operation practices while encouraging and enabling governments to adopt approaches that engage and support the informal sector actors and its representatives.”

“The synergistic effect of these complementary actions should contribute to having safer foods in the markets, through food business operators that are more equipped and incentivized to take on best practice and protect the safety of the food they sell.” 

“This can only lead to a reduction of food safety risks such as foodborne disease. Considering food safety is also paramount to food security, and the importance of the informal food sector to livelihoods, countries should see positive effects on these important national outcomes,” he says.

Food safety in Africa’s domestic and informal markets has been historically neglected or mismanaged. As many as 90 million people become sick from foodborne illness yearly, costing an estimated US$16 billion in productivity losses. Meanwhile, the international community invests US$55 million annually in food safety projects on the continent.The guidelines will offer practical food safety solutions for Africa’s informal marketplace (Credit: Ali Mkumbwa). 

“Western approaches to improving food safety, which include compliance with strict requirements and involve complex documentation processes, are only suited to the formal sector, which is regularized and has sufficient financial resources,” says Alonso.

“The reality is most African consumers buy food from the informal sector, which requires different approaches for food safety management. With the right support, governments can unlock the informal food sector as a vehicle for healthy and safe foods for all, and a source of decent and dignified employment for men and women, especially youth, in Africa.”

Post Malabo Agenda
Engaging with the informal food sector will play a vital role in the Post Malabo Agenda — an inclusive and multi-stakeholder consultative process that embraces research to generate evidence-based approaches that will inform the technical design, drafting and political mobilization of agricultural transformation for the next ten years.

Alonso notes: “The guidelines are relevant to the whole of the informal food sector of a country. They will be framed around what we call ‘three principles of engagement,’ which are — recognize, engage and invest.” 

“Recognizing the informal food sector as a cornerstone of Africa’s agrifood sector, engaging to enable an inclusive participation of the informal sector into food system-relevant policy processes and investing in the sector to unlock their potential to operate with best practices and deliver safer foods,” he explains.

The AU and ILRI aim to involve diverse food sector stakeholders, including representatives from the informal sector, civil society organizations, community-based organizations that interface with the informal food sector and trade unions where necessary. 

“To facilitate this, we are partnering with informal sector associations/networks, national governments, regional communities and apex civil society organizations to identify the people best placed to be part of the consultations,” says Alonso. 

“At member state level, we are keen to engage national and local governments, food safety regulatory agencies and the various ministries responsible for driving the implementation of food systems policies and regulations.” 

Food safety standard compliance
The guidelines are informed by ILRI’s research and interventions for improved food safety across Africa. These included a “push-pull” approach in Burkina Faso, involving food hygiene training for chicken grillers and consumer awareness campaigns. The initiative also seeks to make the informal milk sector in Kenya more professional through training and marketing.

Although compliance with food safety standards has improved for exported goods from Africa, progress has been limited for the domestic informal sector, which is fragmented and under-resourced.

“Food and nutrition security is a human right, and yet unsafe food undermines this right for millions of Africans every year,” says John Oppong-Otoo, food safety officer at the African Union International Bureau for Animal Resources.

“We believe these new guidelines will provide realistic and practical guidance to help governments work with the informal sector and gradually transform it to safely and sustainably sustain the population.”

In other industry developments, new research identified how forgotten food crops can diversify or replace major staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa by 2070 and benefit micronutrient supply through climate niche modeling. The study identified 58 crops, including “better-adapted and more nutritious” vegetables, fruits, cereals, pulses, seeds, nuts, roots and tubers.

Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization released its “Integrating Africa’s forgotten foods for better nutrition” report and “Compendium of forgotten foods in Africa.” The research was conducted alongside experts from the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.

By Inga de Jong