Kimanya Martin Epafras
School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Heliyon. 2024 Apr 26;10(9):e30230. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30230. eCollection 2024 May 15.
Africa is the greatest contributor to the burden of foodborne diseases in the world. The problem is associated with the weak food safety control systems in many countries of Africa. Africa's national food control systems are based on fragmented legislation which provide for multiple jurisdictions resulting in weaknesses in coordination, inspection and enforcement of food safety measures mandated to different sectors such as agriculture, trade, and health. It was hypothesized that the weak food safety legislation is a result of inability to contextualize and appreciate the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for strengthening national food control systems. Raising awareness and knowledge on interlinkages and authority levels among the sectoral food safety actors can foster appreciation of the FAO and WHO recommendations and inform food safety policy reforms in the continent. This article highlights the interlinkages in food safety activities of the actors along the food chain. It also contextualizes the roles of each agency or ministry and proposes institutional arrangements to be considered in strengthening national food safety control systems in Africa.
非洲是全球食源性疾病负担的最大贡献者。该问题与非洲许多国家薄弱的食品安全控制系统相关。非洲的国家食品控制系统基于零散的立法，这些立法规定了多个管辖权，导致在协调、检查以及执行赋予农业、贸易和卫生等不同部门的食品安全措施方面存在弱点。据推测，食品安全立法薄弱是由于无法结合实际情况理解和领会联合国粮食及农业组织（粮农组织）和世界卫生组织（世卫组织）关于加强国家食品控制系统的准则。提高部门食品安全行为主体之间对相互联系和权力层级的认识与了解，可促进对粮农组织和世卫组织建议的理解，并为该大陆的食品安全政策改革提供依据。本文着重介绍了各行为主体在食物链食品安全活动中的相互联系。它还结合实际情况阐述了每个机构或部门的作用，并提出了在加强非洲国家食品安全控制系统时应考虑的体制安排。
