On 7 June 2024, the international community celebrated the 6^ème International Food Safety Day on the theme “Food safety: preparing for the unexpected”, inviting everyone to try to adopt healthy eating practices.

The ECOWAS Commission’s Department of Economic Affairs and Agriculture and the FAO Sub-Regional Office for West Africa took advantage of the day to raise awareness among stakeholders in the West African food system of the importance of food safety and to help promote safe and healthy food practices at all levels of the agricultural value chain and society.

During a webinar open to the public, experts from the two institutions and from the countries presented the state of preparedness of the West Africa and Sahel Region for food safety emergencies in West Africa and shared some good practices of Member States in managing food safety emergencies and guaranteeing healthy and safe food for the population.

As recommended by stakeholders during the first webinar organised by ECOWAS on 07 June 2023, the webinar will become an annual activity initiated by ECOWAS to raise public awareness because “According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, around 600 million people – or almost one in ten people worldwide – fall ill after eating contaminated food. It is therefore necessary to initiate and strengthen awareness-raising activities among the regional population on food safety issues and on the necessary measures to be taken in food systems,” emphasised Mr Septime HOUSSOU-GOE. Septime HOUSSOU-GOE, Programme Officer at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, opened the meeting on behalf of the Director, Alain SY TRAORE.

Before the DADR representative, Mr Drissi Mehdi, speaking on behalf of the Representative of the FAO Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, welcomed this joint initiative by the FAO and ECOWAS for the well-being of our populations.

He recalled some of the key actions undertaken by the FAO to promote healthy eating throughout the world, and particularly in West Africa, before stressing that “the FAO is ready to work closely with ECOWAS through a structuring programme to ensure that good practices for healthy and safe eating are adopted in our sub-region. “

Professor Ousmane SARR, from the Faculty of Medicine at Cheick Anta Diop University in Dakar, gave an overview of food safety regulations and issues in West Africa and the Sahel. Dr Mamadou N’DIAYE, Food Safety Specialist at the FAO Sub-regional Office for West Africa, focused on “Preparing the Region”.

These two presentations were followed by the sharing of country experiences on the national dynamics of food safety emergency management.

The national experiences of Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali were also shared. The governance mechanisms for food safety and the involvement of States in the activities of the CODEX Alimentarius were presented, followed by exchanges/discussions between the participants.

ECOWAP stakeholders and partners were familiarised with food safety issues and questions. They were given some approaches for adopting appropriate behaviour in order to avoid illnesses caused by a lack of healthy food thanks to food safety. Above all, they were informed of the existence of regional regulations and codex standards in ECOWAS member states.

In view of the importance of the subject for health and socio-economic development, the participants congratulated ECOWAS and the FAO on the initiative and suggested that: (i) continue to support greater participation by ECOWAS Member States, Mauritania and Chad in the process of drawing up international standards; (ii) continue to strengthen the harmonisation of national and regional regulations; (iii) strengthen training leading to qualifications and diplomas in the field of food safety throughout the value chain; (iii) strengthen the capacity of analysis and control laboratories in accordance with international standards; and finally (iv) strengthen cooperation between national and regional institutions.

This webinar demonstrated once again that there is a great deal of work to be done to mobilise decision-makers and change people’s behaviour. The FAO and ECOWAS launched a Call to Action aimed at governments and non-state actors.

These two institutions have agreed to develop a Regional Programme to Strengthen Country Capacity in Food Safety, and the main thrusts of this programme were shared with the participants.

The webinar was held as part of the implementation of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP), financed by the World Bank and coordinated at regional level by ECOWAS in collaboration with CILSS, CORAF and other partners, with 8 beneficiary countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo).