1 min
In the last few months, we have seen or read some disturbing news and videos on critical food safety issues happening around us. Some traders use harmful substances to ripen fruits faster and also some vegetable farmers use other substances to reduce pest infestation especially close to the harvest period (many times not complying with the pre-harvest interval) and many more.
These are indeed sad stories and they are very concerning as the impact of eating unsafe food affects everyone of us. But the root cause? This challenge stems from having people who produce or manage food without having requisite knowledge on food safety and also without appropriate regulatory oversight that holds them accountable when they err.
In many developing countries, anyone could start farming if they so desired without any related experience. It simply means anybody could produce our food without having any knowledge or prior experience. So, they could use any means to produce food and won't be held accountable if anything goes wrong. This is one of the big flaws in our food system and has produced many actors especially farmers that can easily be compromised. There is a need for us to develop a framework to regulate the people who produce food to have the appropriate knowledge and with high ethical standards.
Furthermore, we need to build traceability at the local and national levels. Every food produced should be traced to its origin, the communities and later on to the various farmers (possibly a long term plan). To achieve this, every farmer must have a unique code attached to every food produced by such farmers. Thus without code, no farmer can sell in the market except it is consumed by the farm families. This puts a form of accountability into the food system. In this regard, any food safety issues could be traced down to the farmers or communities and could be easily addressed. This is where our food system should aim to develop into, where the traceability system is in-built, accountability is mainstreamed and food safety is assured throughout the value chain.
In conclusion, this initiative can be possible if we “decompromise" the current farmers through proper awareness on food production processes and the need for food safety at the farm. Therefore, every farmer needs appropriate knowledge to produce safe food and it is obligatory as stakeholders to provide this platform for knowledge transfer. And as a government, we need to provide the mechanism for an effective regulatory framework and compliance implementation to ensure that the food distributed to the market is safe for consumption. We need all stakeholders to collaborate to achieve this to ensure that our food is devoid of any unsafe ingredients that could cause harm to our health. Today is the right time to start and it starts with us.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
In many developing countries, anyone could start farming if they so desired without any related experience. It simply means anybody could produce our food without having any knowledge or prior experience. So, they could use any means to produce food and won't be held accountable if anything goes wrong. This is one of the big flaws in our food system and has produced many actors especially farmers that can easily be compromised. There is a need for us to develop a framework to regulate the people who produce food to have the appropriate knowledge and with high ethical standards.
Furthermore, we need to build traceability at the local and national levels. Every food produced should be traced to its origin, the communities and later on to the various farmers (possibly a long term plan). To achieve this, every farmer must have a unique code attached to every food produced by such farmers. Thus without code, no farmer can sell in the market except it is consumed by the farm families. This puts a form of accountability into the food system. In this regard, any food safety issues could be traced down to the farmers or communities and could be easily addressed. This is where our food system should aim to develop into, where the traceability system is in-built, accountability is mainstreamed and food safety is assured throughout the value chain.
In conclusion, this initiative can be possible if we “decompromise" the current farmers through proper awareness on food production processes and the need for food safety at the farm. Therefore, every farmer needs appropriate knowledge to produce safe food and it is obligatory as stakeholders to provide this platform for knowledge transfer. And as a government, we need to provide the mechanism for an effective regulatory framework and compliance implementation to ensure that the food distributed to the market is safe for consumption. We need all stakeholders to collaborate to achieve this to ensure that our food is devoid of any unsafe ingredients that could cause harm to our health. Today is the right time to start and it starts with us.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
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