Improving food safety in Africa’s thriving but overlooked informal food sector

Onome Amuge

The informal sector in Africa plays a vital role in ensuring food security, employment opportunities, and livelihoods, especially for the urban poor.

According to reports, approximately 70 percent of urban households in Africa source their food from informal markets, a diverse ecosystem of sellers that includes street vendors, kiosk owners, and traditional market traders, among others. This vast informal sector not only provides affordable food options for many urban dwellers but also serves as a key source of employment and economic activity in Africa’s cities.

Despite its central role in Africa’s food supply, the informal sector has been chronically sidelined when it comes to food safety. In fact, according to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), food safety in Africa’s domestic markets, including informal ones, has suffered from neglect and mismanagement.

The scale of the crisis is considered worrisome as about 90 million Africans fall ill from foodborne illnesses each year, with the economic toll estimated at $16 billion in productivity losses. Reports have also shown that when it comes to food safety, Africa is being handed the short end of the stick. While millions of people suffer the debilitating consequences of foodborne illnesses, the global community’s investment in food safety projects on the continent amounts to just $55 million a year.

As a developing nation and the most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria has enormous challenges connected with food safety culture. In Nigeria, food safety culture is a complex subject due to the country’s heterogeneous and diverse nature, as demonstrated by its over 250 ethnic groups.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has over the years, struggled with the challenge of fostering a food safety culture in a nation whose 250+ ethnic groups create an intricate number of culinary practices and beliefs. As this diversity gives rise to a rich and vibrant culinary heritage, it also presents some notable food safety challenges, with traditional practices often clashing with modern food safety regulations.

Analysts have also observed that as Nigeria’s urbanisation accelerates and incomes continue to fluctuate in an ever-changing economy, awareness of food safety issues remains low amongst the populace, while government oversight of food safety continues to fall short of expectations. As a result, the public discourse on food safety matters remains muted, with little indication of progress.

Like many other developing countries, Nigeria finds itself grappling with the five key requirements for achieving safer food as outlined by the WHO—safe water, adequate sanitation, appropriate personal hygiene, safe food preparation, and effective food inspection and regulation.

Amidst the challenges of inadequate basic amenities, particularly a lack of reliable access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities, the quest for safer food in Nigeria becomes an uphill battle. Without the essential tools for maintaining hygiene and preventing food contamination, both consumers and food vendors find themselves in a precarious situation, where even the most basic food safety measures become a luxury.

The story of food safety in Nigeria is a tale of intersecting challenges, where socioeconomic factors collide with opportunistic business practices to create a perfect storm of food safety issues.

In particular, low-income households, lacking both economic and dietary diversity, are often forced to rely on staples produced by the informal sector, exposing them to monotonous, potentially unsafe diets. Meanwhile, unscrupulous players in the food industry, driven by a desire for quick profits, engage in nefarious practices like adulteration, food fraud, and a lack of transparency about food quality, further undermining the culture of food safety in the country.

Food scientist and technologist,Chidinma Ochulor, attributed Nigeria’s ongoing challenges with food safety to the high rates of hunger and poverty in the country.

As part of the team leading Promasidor Nigeria’s move towards a more comprehensive food safety management system, Ochulor identified the undeniable impact of socioeconomic factors on food safety. According to her, for a nation where hunger and poverty remain pervasive, food safety becomes a luxury, jeopardising the health and well-being of countless Nigerians.

“It’s easier to preach food safety practices to people who are food secure. It is often said that  “hunger is a hydra-headed monster.” It takes a high level of consciousness to remember food safety in the face of hunger,” she stated.

For Ochulor, the structures in which street food is sold are, to put it mildly, far from ideal.Designed for function rather than form, these sheds, often constructed from scavenged materials, offer little in the way of hygiene or aesthetics. And yet, in a fast-paced metropolis like Lagos, the informal food sector, with its bustling street stalls and makeshift kitchens, serves as a crucial source of sustenance for the low- to middle-income workers that drive the city’s economy.

Ochulor, drawing on her expertise in food safety, offers a cautionary tale of the risks lurking in Nigeria’s informal food sector. These include:

-Poor personal hygiene by the cook(s) and vendor(s), for example dirty fingernails, long fingernails, dirty clothes or apron, uncovered hair, etc.

-Selling food close to a gutter or waste disposal area.

-Improper washing of vegetables due to inadequate water supply.

-Exposing cooked food to the environment without any form of packaging.

-Use of unwashed knives, plates, cooking spoons and cutlery to prepare and dish food.

-Use of one bowl of water to wash hundreds of plates (typical in buka/mama put).

-Use of plastic water bottles picked from by the roadside to pack beverages like soya milk, kunu, zobo drink, etc.

-Use of dirty old papers to wrap food .

In Ochulor’s estimation, the cornerstone of a successful food safety policy in the informal sector lies not just in rigorous protocols and sanitary standards, but in the form of communication and enlightenment on a national scale.

She explained further that the path to a safe and nutritious street food scene in Nigeria is paved with knowledge and understanding, where vendors and customers alike fully understand and practice food safety and quality.

AU,ILRI Team join forces to transform food safety in informal markets

Amidst the need to address the challenges besieging the informal food sector and the need to promote food safety across the continent, the African Union (AU) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), have announced an alliance seeking to develop the first-ever guidelines to support African governments in their efforts to improve food safety in the often-neglected informal food sectorarena. By tackling a problem that touches the lives of countless Africans, the initiative aims to usher in a new era of food safety and security on the continent.

The innovative framework designed by the AU and ILRI is poised to pave the way for a fresh approach to tackling food safety issues in Africa’s informal food sector.

Rather than treating it as an afterthought, the guidelines seek to embrace the sector’s unique realities and engagement dynamics. This shift in mindset, if effectively implemented, promises to be a game-changer in the ongoing quest to improve food safety and build a more robust food system in Africa.

Building upon the foundations of the African Union’s 2021 Food Safety Strategy for Africa, the new draft guidelines are expected to take a step forward in improving food safety management in Africa’s informal sector.

According to analysts, as exported goods from Africa increasingly adhere to international food safety standards, progress has been harder to come by in the domestic informal sector, an ecosystem often characterised by its fractured nature and scarcity of resources. However, the draft guidelines, born from a fresh approach and a deep understanding of the sector’s unique challenges, offer a beacon of hope in a sector often shrouded in uncertainty.

Dwelling on the development,John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer, African Union International Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), stated:

“Food and nutrition security is a human right, and yet unsafe food undermines this right for millions of Africans every year.

“We believe these new guidelines will provide realistic and practical guidance to help governments work with the informal sector and gradually transform it to safely and sustainably sustain the population.”

According to Silvia Alonso, senior scientist epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), “Western approaches to improving food safety, which include compliance with strict requirements and involve complex documentation processes, are really only suited to the formal sector, which is regularised and has sufficient financial resources.”

As Alonso observed, the reality is most African consumers buy food from the informal sector, which requires different approaches for food safety management. He added that given the right support, governments can unlock the informal food sector as a vehicle for healthy and safe foods for all, and a source of decent and dignified employment for men and women, especially youth, in Africa.

ILRI’s commitment to food safety across Africa has provided a wealth of insight and best practices, paving the way for the innovative guidelines at hand.

Drawing on experiences from countries like Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Nigeria, the institute has developed a “push-pull” approach that combines education and training for food vendors with awareness campaigns targeting consumers.

In Burkina Faso, the focus was on poultry grilling, while Kenya saw a holistic effort to professionalise the informal milk sector through a range of initiatives, including training, marketing, and certification.

The joint initiative by the AU and ILRI is taking a deliberate and comprehensive approach to improve food safety across Africa.

Business a.m. gatered that from June 10, 2024, a consultation process will be underway, encompassing informal sector actors, partners, and member states.The consultation, an inclusive process meant to capture a wide range of perspectives and experiences, is scheduled to continue throughout 2024 to 2025, culminating in the formal presentation of the framework to the AU policy bodies for their final approval in 2025.