The World Food Programme (WFP) has released an overview of its endeavors in enhancing food safety and quality within the East Africa region during the year 2023.
WFP adopts a comprehensive strategy encompassing vigilant oversight at every stage of the supply chain, spanning from production and processing to storage, handling, and distribution.
In the course of 2023, the regional bureau for Eastern Africa managed a total of 59 food incidents, with three identified as critical, 17 as major, and nine as minor. Notably, the quantity of food affected stood at 72,985 metric tons, marking a significant 50 percent decrease from the previous year’s figure of 164,790 metric tons. WFP attributes this reduction to the efficacy of implemented controls and interventions in curbing food loss and ensuring the maintenance of food quality and safety standards.
Amidst the Sudan crisis, WFP’s Food Safety and Quality division swiftly adhered to emergency response protocols. These measures encompassed the relaxation of food inspections for early releases and dispatches, alongside the streamlining of the supplier qualification process for low and medium-risk food items.
Supplier audits and assessments were conducted rigorously to ascertain compliance with regulations, manage risks, enhance operational efficiency, and monitor supplier performance. Additionally, 18 support and oversight missions were carried out to country offices.
Following the rollout of Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) corporate guidelines in 2022, WFP’s food safety and quality unit at the regional bureau embarked on field missions to various country offices including Rwanda, South Sudan, Djibouti, and Kenya. The objective was to bolster risk mitigation strategies within the WFP supply chain and facilitate the seamless integration of FSQ practices across operational endeavors.
The Food Safety and Quality Terrain (FOSTER) platform, tasked with managing five critical WFP food safety and quality business processes, saw utilization across the region reach 70 percent by the end of 2023, falling short of the targeted 95 percent. This discrepancy is attributed to changes related to a high volume of early releases in Sudan and the exclusion of vendors not listed as logistics services providers, such as millers, which affected 328,265 metric tons of food.
Training initiatives were paramount, with over 3,500 participants engaged in 22 regional and country office training sessions, comprising WFP staff, external partners, government personnel, and other stakeholders in the supply chain. These sessions covered a spectrum of topics including food handling, warehouse management, food incident management, FSQ guidelines, traceability, and post-harvest management. Noteworthy was the training session on integrated pest management held in Mombasa in September.
In Rwanda, a collaborative agreement was forged with the Rwanda Standards Board to bolster the development, implementation, and compliance monitoring of food safety and quality standards, alongside capacity building efforts.
In Burundi, WFP’s training initiatives focused on enhancing post-harvest handling, storage, and warehousing practices within five cooperatives, thereby augmenting the quality of grains supplied.
In Uganda, WFP conducted 34 technical assessments on 27 grains and pulse suppliers and seven processed food suppliers. As a result, 15 suppliers met the food safety and quality requirements and were consequently recommended for inclusion on the local food vendor roster.
Moreover, in Somalia, WFP successfully negotiated the exemption of its commodities from import inspection, thereby facilitating the smoother delivery of humanitarian food assistance. Restrictions on foreign pest control management firms were also lifted.
WFP’s collaborative efforts with various entities including Trademark Africa, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), and Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) were instrumental in advancing food safety and quality endeavors across the region. Trademark Africa focused on reducing trade barriers through harmonizing food standards and SPS measures, while BHA provided funding for aflatoxin control projects and regional strategies. Additionally, PFS aimed to assist food processors in meeting technical standards.
