EU-funded Project to improve Food Safety and Plant Health in African Union Member Countries in full swing

Eight African Union (AU) member countries are in the process of conducting thorough data collection activities and a series of intense trainings to gear up for comprehensive assessments and evaluations as part of a 5-million-euro project funded by the European Union to improve food safety and phytosanitary systems.  

The project "Strengthening of Capacities and Governance in Food and Phytosanitary Control” will expand to a total of 11 AU countries in the coming months, providing technical support and working with national Competent Authorities and other leading institutions to build capabilities, strengthen governance and improve strategic planning around two main components: food safety and plant health.    

Spearheading the two components is a team of Food and Agriculture Organization experts, and of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, respectively.   

Since November 2022, the team of FAO experts conducted trainings with representatives from various national ministries involved in agriculture, health, trade, as well as from the food industry sector in 7 AU countries. Project focal points in these countries are in the process of gathering data across a series of dimensions covering the policy, legal, human resources, and financial sectors of the countries’ food control systems.  

Government officials and participants across the 7 countries have welcomed the initiative. Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of Eswatini, Sydney Simelane said that the country was looking forward to “enhancing its competitiveness and participation in international trade,” adding “this workshop and assessment mission could not have come at a better time.”  

On the plant health component, a phase to train new Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) facilitators started in September 2022 by providing virtual and face-to-face courses where nine phytosanitary experts from eight AU countries participated. The project activities continue with implementing the PCEs in the region, which will consist of three missions. So far, Mauritius, one of nine AU target countries to conduct PCEs, started with the first mission on 27 March.  Over the next 12 months, the Mauritius National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) will work closely with the PCE facilitator to fill in nine PCE modules assessing various elements of Mauritius’ phytosanitary capacities. The first mission will be conducted for the other eight targeted AU countries in the coming months, and the facilitators under the certification process will be shadowing certified facilitators in implementing plant health evaluations at a national level. At  the end of the PCE process, each NPPO will have developed a strategic and costed-out plan for the country to improve their plant health capacities with the aim of increasing trade opportunities. Likewise, the AU region will have increased the number of certified PCE facilitators that will benefit both the region and the global phytosanitary community. 

At the centre of the two components are two state-of-the-art tools meant to strengthen national systems, support regional harmonization of standards and guidelines, and improve dialogue to enhance trade: the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool and the PCE. 

As part of wider efforts to strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacities and governance to support the newly established Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the costed plans resulting from the project will contribute to improving public health and increasing trade opportunities in the region.