AFSI members had the honor of collaborating with the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), USDA, and others to convene stakeholders from across Nigerian government and society for a food safety roadmap workshop. As Nigeria continues to move forward the Food Safety and Quality Bill to re-vamp its food safety system, the AFSI consortium used the workshop to share some of the U.S. experiences over the past 10+ years of implementing its own Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The U.S. FSMA goals of “shifting from responding to foodborne illness to preventing it,” uses risk-based approaches to enact shared responsibility among actors throughout the global food supply chain to ensure safe food. It also demonstrates the need for ongoing coordination across levels and sectors of government.
The workshop was held in December 2022 in Abuja and was titled “Globally Positioning Food Safety System in Nigeria: National Food Safety and Quality Implementation Roadmap.” It sought to begin the process of setting priorities and mapping the implementation process and the needed inputs, technical knowledge, and actions.
This dialogue is just the start to a long and important process in Africa’s most populous country. This work will improve the food safety for Nigerians and also will grow the country’s capacity to participate in international agricultural trade.
Workshop facilitators NESG shared the below images of the engagement and dialogue.
AFSI 