Evidence, Interventions and Impact: Building Informal Market Food Safety Capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Written by Janet M. Hodur, Communication Specialist CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Food systems are evolving rapidly throughout low and middle-income countries, and value chains are becoming longer in the process. Foodborne disease risks occur along these increasingly complex value chains, while consumer demand for safe food is growing. In areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 70 percent of food comes from traditional, informal markets, how can researchers support capacity to provide access to safe food?

This was the subject of remarks given by Kristina Roesel, Jointly Appointed Scientist at Freie Universitat in Berlin and the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, during the September 19 Brussels Development Briefing, “Food Safety: A Critical Part of the Food System in Africa.” Roesel conducts work as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health’s (A4NH) Food Safety research flagship.

Her presentation drew attention to the complexity of sub-Saharan Africa’s very heterogeneous system of informal markets, and work she and other A4NH researchers are conducting to improve food safety under very diverse circumstances.

Read the entire article on the CRP A4NH blog: Evidence, Interventions and Impact: Building Informal Market Food Safety Capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa – Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Additional article on Brussels Development Briefings’ home: Food safety in Africa: Successes and opportunities