Between the farm and the dinner table, there are many opportunities for disease-causing organisms and other food safety hazards to enter the food supply. Food safety issues can arise at any stage from food production to consumption: on the farm, during processing, at the retailer, or in the hands of the consumer.
Food safety is the assurance that the food will not cause any harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.
Improved food safety will contribute to improved nutritional status and the reduction and prevention of non-communicable diseases, including cancer. Every year around the world, over 420,000 people die and some 600 million people fall ill after eating contaminated food.
“The total productivity loss associated with foodborne disease in low and middle-income countries are estimated to cost 95.2 USD billion per year, and the annual cost of treating foodborne illnesses is estimated at 15 USD billion,” according to the World Bank’s report.
Detection and elimination of these food-borne risks is complex and challenging; as international connectivity of food markets increases, supply chains lengthen and the number of actors in the food system grows.
Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it has been aggressively working on the issue of nutrition as one of the top national agenda formulating policy establishing office for the subject. Hence, it has started identification of hazards and reacts to it with the active participation of development partners.
Microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi, parasites), chemical hazards, improperly stored, handled, or used chemicals can be a source of contamination. Examples: fertilizers, sanitizers, synthetic and non-synthetic pesticides/herbicides/fungicides, equipment lubricants, cleaning agents, etc are the most identified hazards in Ethiopia. Physical hazards such as bone fragments, pieces of glass, pieces of metals, have also posed a substantial threat.
Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty are some of the Sustainable Development Goals. So as to achieve the target set, the food provided should be safe in nature to avoid possible harmful effects of other contaminants.
Improving maternal health to a certain extent is related to the availability of safe food to mothers. In relation to this, the goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds is not achievable unless the extent of infectious illnesses in children is controlled. The origin of many of these infections lies in unsafe food and waters.
Ensure environmental sustainability includes the provision of safe drinking water (lack of presence of pathogenic organisms and toxins in water, presence of chemicals/pollutants and excess of minerals, especially fluoride and arsenic)
Food safety problems threaten the nutritional status of particularly vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.
Foodborne illness resulting in chronic diarrhea can negatively impact on the nutritional status by reducing nutrient absorption and exacerbating nutrient deficiencies.
Limited access to safe and nutritionally adequate food often forms a vicious cycle of worsening health and well-being.
Beyond the direct effects on health, unsafe food imposes significant social and economic costs resulting from loss of income and reduced market access.
Food safety, nutrition and food security are inextricably linked, yet the importance of food safety in this relationship is often overlooked.
So as to ensure food safety, Ministry of Health, FMHACA, are working jointly to promote and advocate the issue of food safety, nutrition sensitive agriculture as the supreme national agendas.
African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and Plan International will launch a new report entitled “Getting Girls Equal: The African Report on Girls and the Law” on 15 November 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here in Addis Ababa from 14:30 onwards.
The launching event will offer an exclusive preview of the report, and the opportunity to discuss the situation of African girls vis-à-vis the law in the presence of government representatives, members of the diplomatic corps in Addis, representatives of UN and international agencies, civil society organisations, research institutions, children and youth and media.
The necessity of eliminating discrimination against African girls to achieve equality before the law has rightfully been highlighted in regional and international human rights instruments and agendas, including the CEDAW, the CRC, the ACRWC, the African Women’s Protocol, Agenda 2030, the African Union Agenda 2063 and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).
Despite strides towards equality, girls in Africa still face various issues related to gender inequality, such as gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. About 23 percent of all girls – more than 80 million girls – are out of school. Africa has the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world, leading to many social and financial barriers to continuing with formal education.
The limited available evidence shows that 15 out of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage in the world are found in Africa. Some 40 percent of girls in sub-Saharan Africa, and as many as 60 to 70 percent in some countries, marry at an early age. A recent UNICEF study (UNICEF, 2018) indicated that the global burden of child marriage is shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 3 of most recently married child brides are now in sub- Saharan Africa, compared to 1 in 5 a decade ago, indicating that substantial acceleration is required to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets of ending child marriage by 2030.
ACPF and Plan International hope that Getting Girls Equal: The African Report on Girls and the Law will trigger a Pan-African conversation, place the African girl child at the centre of the public policy discourse, and generate a movement and a momentum to get girls equal.
The Report comes out on the eve of the culmination of the African Women’s Decade, and it coincides with the launch of the African Union’s first Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.
To attend the Launch, please register online at http://girls.africanchildforum.org/
About the organisers
African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) is an independent, not-for-profit, Pan-African centre of policy research and advocacy on the African child. It was established in 2003 out of concern about the situation of the African child, and the need for Africans to recognize their collective responsibility to ensure the realisation of all rights for all children.
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. It strives for a just world, working together with children and young people, supporters and partners.
The Ethiopian Herald November14, 2019
BY LAKACHEW ATINAFU
