Africa faces considerable challenges related to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems, including lack of coordination and harmonization between countries and regions, weak regulatory systems, and limited capacities to invest in SPS systems and implement actions to improve food safety and plant and animal health.
These challenges impact health and wellbeing, with Africans suffering from high rates of foodborne illnesses; that limit African countries’ opportunities to participate in global markets; and affect the ability of the continent to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and fully realize the potential benefits of greater intra-regional trade.
Stronger SPS capacities and increased investments in SPS systems are essential to protect human health, increase Africa’s ability to export its products to regional and global markets, and achieve the goals and commitments under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), Malabo Declaration, the African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, and the African Union (AU) SPS Policy Framework.
The overall objective of this project is for AKADEMIYA2063 to work with the African Union Commission’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (AUC- DARBE), the AfCFTA Secretariat, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) to address SPS-related challenges and issues through the development of implementation modalities to support AU Member States to advance the SPS agenda.
Collaborators: AKADEMIYA2063
Project Objectives:
1) ensure an effective implementation of the AU SPS Policy Framework,
2) create access to data and analytics on investment options and policy issues to address the challenges of food safety and SPS measures, and,
3) facilitate dialogue, mutual learning, and cooperation among African countries for harmonized SPS policies and capacities.
Project Activities:
This project will be implemented through three major activities.
- Technical support to AUC-DARBE to advance the SPS agenda among regional economic communities (RECs) and Member States, including advancing implementation of the AU SPS Policy Framework and developing tools to monitor, evaluate, and report on efforts to strengthen SPS systems by Member States;
- Data and analytical support to bridge knowledge and evidence gaps related to SPS challenges in order to support policies and investments of Member States; and
- Learning, dialogue, and outreach to facilitate the exchange of information around SPS activities and best practices and strengthen technical capacities for SPS policy design and implementation in RECs and Member States.
Learn more about Akademiya2063: https://akademiya2063.org/
AFSI 