Background
AGRA is an African-led alliance focused on putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Founded in 2006, at a time when agricultural development was emerging from a 20-year decline characterized by minimal growth and investment in the sector, AGRA’s mission is to catalyze and sustain an agricultural transformation in Africa through innovation-driven productivity increases and access to markets and finance that improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
AGRA’s Vision is to contribute to a food systems-led inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa, to reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and adapt to climate change. In delivering its mission to catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa, by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where the private sector thrives and smallholders are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food, AGRA seeks to achieve the following three objectives: 1)Empower and build the resilience of smallholder farmers; 2)Support the development of inclusive markets and finance to strengthen agricultural systems; and 3) Strengthen state capability to sustain agricultural transformation. For information about AGRA, please visit www.agra.org
The consultancy Assignment
Food safety has huge implications for public health and economic wellbeing for the continent. The World Health Organization notes that an estimated 600 million (almost 1 in 10 people) in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food, while an estimated 420,000 people die every year, resulting in the loss of over 33 million healthy life years due to incidences of food related illnesses. Africa is the worst affected, with 91 million illnesses and 137,000 deaths each year. Consequently, the Africa Union Commission (AUC) has been implementing several initiatives to address the food safety situation across the continent. These include the formation of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), the development of an Africa Food Safety Strategy, and the Africa Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Strategy, among others.
In 2019, the World Bank in its report on the economic burden of the foodborne diseases indicated that the total productivity loss associated with foodborne disease in low- and middle-income countries was estimated at US$ 95.2 billion per year, with the annual cost of treating foodborne illnesses estimated at US$ 15 billion.
Countries need to have effective food safety systems that cover the entire food chain, from production to consumption, to prevent and control foodborne diseases. Effectively addressing food safety issues requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders, such as governments, food businesses, consumers, and international organizations. It also requires the development and implementation of sound food safety policies and regulations, based on scientific evidence and risk analysis. The WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030 provides a comprehensive framework that aims to guide and support countries in strengthening their food safety systems and global cooperation.
The AUC has been leading efforts to improve food safety on the continent. The AUC-PACA has recently supported six AU Member States to develop their National Food Safety Master Plans with attendant food safety policy and is scaling this support to additional 8 countries. The aim is to enable countries to develop evidence-based food safety master plans, which identify gaps and actions to be taken to strengthen food safety systems, including gender integration in food safety response actions and mechanism at national level. The AUC recognizes that developing a robust and comprehensive food safety master plan requires reliable evidence generated not only with the involvement of diverse stakeholders but also following internationally accepted criteria and tools.
Africa faces several food safety challenges, which includes fragmentation of food safety management, lack of clarity of institutional mandates and coordination, poor food safety culture due to large informal food sector, poor budgetary allocation to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) related infrastructures including the lack of quality storage facilities, transportation networks, and testing laboratories (Jaffee and Henson 2004; Czubala, Shepherd, and Wilson 2009; PAQI 2020). Other challenges include weak technical capacity and expertise to understand modern safety challenges that ensures that food safety standards and inspections are thorough, weak and or outdated regulatory frameworks for food safety, which foster inconsistencies and difficulties in enforcing standards, and the lack of technological and infrastructure capacity to track safety of food products across the food supply chain.
Against this backdrop, the AUC, and in collaboration with AGRA, is seeking an experienced and competent individual to undertake in-depth analysis and assessment of the state of implementation of food safety laws, policy, regulations and standards, training, institutional coordination, monitoring, and evaluation in Nigeria. This assessment is expected to draw insights and recommendations towards strengthening an enabling environment for food safety in the focus countries. The assignment will contribute towards the AUC’s Food Safety Agenda for Africa, and provide the needed evidence and recommendations that will enable the following:
i. Strengthening national food safety governance and leadership,
ii. Building resilient and sustainable food safety systems
iii. Enhancing food safety surveillance and response
iv. Promoting food safety awareness and behavior change
v. Fostering innovation and research in food safety
Objectives and Scope of the Assignment
The consultant would be expected to undertake in-depth analysis and assessment of the existence and state of implementation of food safety laws, policy, regulations and standards, training, institutional coordination, monitoring, and evaluation in Nigeria with recommendations towards strengthening an enabling environment for food safety. The specific tasks of the assignment are as follows:
i. Assess the food safety policy and regulatory environment in each country, to identify key bottlenecks and constraints and opportunities to regional food trade. This entails documenting:
· Existing food safety related laws, regulations & standards, institutional mechanism and coordination in the design and implementation of food safety related frameworks
· inspection mechanisms, certification, laboratory support services, training and capacity strengthening, and conformity assessment systems, etc.
· understanding of food safety legislation and policies amongst law enforcement and Judicial officers for enforcement of laws, regulations, and standards
· mechanism for tracking and reporting of food safety incidence
ii. Assess the effectiveness of existing national food control mechanism and systems throughout the entire food chain, identifying implementation challenges, and suggest priority areas for reforms.
iii. Assess the state of infrastructure and technologies to manage food safety risks and response to food safety emergencies.
iv. undertake a cost benefit analysis to ascertain the economic impact of weak food safety policy implementation and its impacts, particularly on young men and women.
v. Review and analyze the impact of the existing food safety laws, regulations and standards on trade and access to the market for young people.
vi. Identify related financial policies and annual budgetary provision that supports development and improvement of food safety environment in the four countries.
vii. Identify key challenges in the coordination and implementation of food safety policies with concise recommendations for reforms.
viii. Identify mechanisms for awareness creation and knowledge management amongst the public sector institution task with implementing food safety measures and regulations in the country.
ix. Identify and recommend key priority policy and regulatory reforms towards improving the food safety environment for increased trade for smallholders and young men and women.
x. Develop concise policy briefs for the four (4) countries to guide expected policy and regulatory reforms.
Key qualifications and experience required
The required consultant should have the following competencies:
a. Extensive experience in and understanding on the FAO/WHO Food Control Assessment Tool; guidelines for developing food safety policy and strategy.
b. Advanced university degree in Food safety, Economics, Public Policy, Political Economy, food science, or a closely related matter
c. 10 years of relevant experience in food safety policy space and official food control systems.
d. Experience in coordinating different government sectors and/or regional/international programs related to food safety.
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Submission Deadline: 3rd May 2024, 5:00PM, East African Time
