Bulawayo, Zimbabwe — Local informal food markets feed millions of urbanites in bustling African cities, but the consequences of tainted food could be illness and death for unsuspecting consumers.
Over 130,000 people across Africa fall ill and die from consuming unsafe food, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
An estimated 70 percent of Africa's urban households buy food from informal markets, such as street vendors, kiosks, and traditional market sellers. Despite being key to food and nutrition security, informal food markets have traditionally been neglected in terms of improved food safety practices, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has noted.
Informal food markets are crucial economic engines, providing livelihoods for many but hygiene concerns, and regulatory uncertainties pose threats to the growth of these markets where people buy and sell food.
Fishworker, Godknows Skota, from Binga District, trades in kapenta fish (Tanganyika sardine) and the Kariba Bream (Tilapia) harvested from Lake Kariba, north of Zimbabwe, which finds its way to public markets in the city of Bulawayo, more than 400 km away.
"Fish go bad easily if they are not handled and prepared well, which means I must ensure I process them in a hygienic manner so that I do not throw away my catch," Skota told IPS as he cleaned a catch of Bream fish for a customer at a fishing camp in Binga, south of Lake Kariba.
"I salt the fish to preserve them and I take precautions to ensure that the fish are not contaminated by dirt during processing and I use enough salt to preserve the fish well so that they do not rot," Skota said.
The significant burden of poor food safety on the continent's health systems is also reflected in its economic impact. Illnesses due to food-borne diseases cause around USD 15 billion in medical expenses annually, according to the World Bank which estimates that food-borne diseases are associated with productivity losses of up to USD 16 billion across Africa.
"Not that the informal food sector is responsible for the disease burden but that we need to have more focus on this sector because it is important and contributes almost 80 percent of the food consumed by urban dwellers," said John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer, African Union's International Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).
The African Union (AU) and ILRI have produced the first framework of food safety guidelines to support African governments' efforts to improve food safety across the continent's informal food sector. The draft guidelines have been developed following the AU's Food Safety Strategy for Africa, published in 2021 to encourage improvements in food safety management.
Oppong-Otoo highlighted that the new guidelines will provide realistic and practical guidance to help governments work with the informal food sector to manage food safety risks and deliver safe food. Food risk can emanate from processed or raw food that can be contaminated, poor handling of food, and infrastructure, for instance, in informal markets.
"It is not that people want to produce unsafe food, it is just that they are not aware that their practices could lead to the production of unsafe food and so they need to be guided," Oppong-Otoo told IPS, noting that unsafe food undermines the human right to food and nutrition security for millions of Africans annually.
Food safety is a major health and economic burden across Africa. According to ILRI research, Africa is responsible for most of the global health burden caused by food-borne diseases.
Silvia Alonso, Principal Scientist Epidemiologist, at the Nairobi-based ILRI, says the guidelines are being developed under a continent-wide consultation with informal market traders, agro-processing actors, and governments. African governments are expected to domesticate the guidelines by developing regulatory frameworks and administration practices to support their implementation.
Alonso told IPS that the guidelines under development by the AU and ILRI are currently undergoing a consultation process, with informal and agri-sector actors, partners, as well as with AU member states, before approval in 2025.
"Since the guidelines are also informed by ILRI's research as well as examples of successful interventions for improving food safety across Africa, we also hope to demonstrate to national governments that a new approach to informal food markets is possible and is entirely to their benefit," said Alonso, explaining that while not expected to be legally binding, the consultation process should pique the interest from governments on seeing the guidelines implemented in their countries.
ILRI has supported informal food markets across Africa through training on food safety. For example, in Kenya, the More Milk project has trained more than 200 milk vendors in Eldoret, to improve hygiene and handling practices.
Milk vendor Francisca Mutai, from Kenya, said she has gained knowledge on milk hygiene and improved her engagement with customers. Her customer base increased and she expanded her business, leading to increased profits.
"With this knowledge, I am able to advise my suppliers and customers on hygienic milk handling and the nutritional benefits of milk," Mutai said.
Another milk vendor, Daniel Kembo, also from Kenya, switched from using plastic containers to aluminum ones, which ensured better hygiene and quality of milk. As a result, he has increased his milk sales.
While in Ethiopia, a consumer awareness campaign helped reduce the recall of tomatoes sold on the informal markets. Dubbed "Abo! Eat the Intact Ones" (Abo is an Amharic word similar to 'hey'), the campaign achieved a 78 percent recall rate, driving demand for intact, or safe, tomatoes in Dire Dawa and Harar areas by enhancing safe household tomato preparation practices.
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Akintayo Oluwagbemiga Elijah, chief whip of the Oyo State Butchers Association in the Bodija Market, in Ibadan, Nigeria, has been made aware of hygienic practices in meat handling and processing. He now pays serious attention to the cleanliness of the slab where cows are slaughtered and uses potable water to clean the meat and its products.
Oppong-Otoo, said promoting food safety in informal markets is one of the targets of an ongoing One Health initiative of the African Union because food trade is an opportunity for economic growth under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
"The informal food sector, which includes people handling and producing food, is at the heart of the AfCFTA and it means that if we can support them to consistently produce and market safer food, then we would have more commodities to be traded," he said. "The AU Food Safety Strategy recognizes that even though Africa has huge agriculture resources, we have not been able to fully tap their potential because of the production of unsafe food."
It is projected that by 2030, intra-African agricultural trade will increase by 574 percent if import tariffs are eliminated under the AcFTA. This would be a great boost for the continent that spends over USD 50 billion annually in food imports, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
IPS UN Bureau Report
