WFP shares highlights of food security work in East Africa

The World Food Program (WFP) has reported on key areas of its food safety and quality work in East Africa in 2023.

WFP’s approach to food safety and quality includes monitoring at all stages of the supply chain, from production and processing to storage, handling and distribution.

In 2023, WFP’s East Africa Regional Office managed 59 food incidents, three of which were categorized as critical, 17 as major and nine as minor.

The amount of affected food amounted to 72,985 tonnes, a 50 percent decrease from 164,790 tonnes in 2022. According to the WFP, this underlines the effectiveness of the controls and interventions implemented in reducing food loss and ensuring food quality and safety.

Supervision of suppliers
During the Sudan crisis, WFP Food Safety and Quality followed emergency response protocols. This included waiving food inspections for early release and shipment and streamlining the supplier qualification process for low- and medium-risk foods.

Supplier audits and assessments include checking regulatory compliance, managing risks, improving operational efficiency and monitoring the performance of existing suppliers.

There were 18 support and monitoring missions to country offices.

Following the introduction of Corporate Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) Guidelines in 2022, WFP’s Food Safety and Quality Unit at the Regional Office undertook field missions to country offices including Rwanda, South Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya. The aim was to improve risk mitigation strategies within WFP’s supply chain and facilitate the integration of FSQ practices into the activities and programs of all operations.

The Food Safety and Quality Terrain (FOSTER) platform manages five WFP food safety and quality business processes: pre-shipment inspections, supplier audits, supplier corrective actions, compliance and product testing, and product specification management.

By the end of 2023, the platform’s usage across the region was 70 percent, below the 95 percent target. The WFP said this could be attributed to changes related to a high number of early releases in Sudan and the exclusion of suppliers not on the logistics provider list, such as millers, affecting 328,265 tonnes of food.

Highlights of training and landing
More than 3,500 participants were reached across 22 regional and national office training sessions, including WFP staff, external partners, government workers and others in the supply chain.

These events covered food processing, warehouse management, food incident management, FSQ guidelines, traceability and post-harvest management. An example was the training on integrated pest management in Mombasa in September.

In Rwanda, an agreement was signed with the Rwanda Standards Board to support the development, implementation and monitoring of compliance with food safety and quality standards and capacity building.

WFP provided training to five cooperatives in Burundi on post-harvest handling, warehousing and storage practices, improving the quality of grain delivered.

WFP conducted 34 technical assessments in Uganda among 27 grains and pulses suppliers and seven processed food suppliers. Through these assessments, 15 suppliers met food safety and quality requirements and were recommended for inclusion in the list of local food suppliers.

In Somalia, WFP negotiated the exemption of its raw materials from import inspection, smoothing the delivery of humanitarian food aid. Restrictions on foreign pest control companies were also lifted.

WFP has partnerships with Trademark Africa, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and Partners in Food Solutions (PFS). Trademark Africa focused on reducing trade barriers by harmonizing food standards and SPS measures. BHA funded aflatoxin control projects and regional strategies, while PFS focused on helping food processors meet technical standards.

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