2nd Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa Platform meeting ongoing in Entebbe, Uganda
The 2nd Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) Platform meeting themed Tracking Commitments, Sustaining Implementation for Results and Impact got underway in Entebbe, Uganda today.
Giving the keynote address at the meeting this morning, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Hon. Jesca Eriyo, said the entire African continent was geographically susceptible to Aflatoxin contamination and that the high incidence of Aflatoxin continues to pose a serious threat to human and animal health.
Hon. Eriyo further said that Aflatoxin was major barrier to the continent’s agricultural produce accessing export markets since stringent regulations on aflatoxin contamination limits how much produce enters the global food market.
The Deputy Secretary General (DSG) disclosed that it was estimated that losses associated with Aflatoxin in Africa escalate to US$450 million each year due to stringent EU standards alone. She said Aflatoxin was one of the challenges that the Continent needs to address in order to achieve global developmental aspirations such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the AU Agenda 2063, and the continental goals and targets contained in the 2014 African Union Heads of State Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods.
“EAC is also committed to the implementation of the Malabo Declaration. The overarching commitments in the Malabo Declaration include ‘Commitment to Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025’ and the Commitment to Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agricultural commodities and services. These commitments are pertinent to and of great relevance to the EAC integration process,” said Hon. Eriyo.
Using the EAC as a focus of her keynote address, Hon. Eriyo informed the participants that the EAC Aflatoxin Prevention and Control Initiative was launched in March 2014, with the overall focus of mitigating the adverse impacts of Aflatoxin along the food and feed value chains in the region.
She said the initiative was anchored in the Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community, the Common Market Protocol, the Protocol on Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) Measures and other EAC Instruments of Regional Integration.
“Safeguarding human, animal and plant health and ensuring safe trade in agricultural products in the EAC and other trading partners is a key provision in the SPS Protocol. Aflatoxin contamination is a complex and multi-faceted problem that has to be addressed through strategic partnerships and complementary efforts at the national and regional levels.”
The DSG noted that the EAC had worked closely with the African Union led PACA, the Eastern Africa Grain Council, the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
“USAID has been a reliable and committed Development Partner for the EAC in this initiative. All these Partnerships are important to ensure that our efforts are complementary and synergistic”.
She reiterated that the EAC with support from USAID and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) developed, validated and adopted a total of 11 evidence-based multi-sectoral papers. The critical topics covered in the papers include impacts of aflatoxin on animal and human health, standards for food and feed, biological control of aflatoxin, post-harvest handling, alternative uses and disposal systems for contaminated products, economic impacts on trade and communication strategy.
The Technical Papers have informed development of the EAC Aflatoxin Prevention and Control Strategy and Action Plan. In addition, the Technical Papers have been used to develop 10 policy briefs on Aflatoxin Prevention and Control. The policy briefs will be published and disseminated widely to enhance levels of awareness on the magnitude of Aflatoxin within the EAC region.
Welcoming Delegates to the meeting, H.E. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the AU Commission said the objective of the meeting was to track progress of implementing the specific actions identified at the first Partnership Platform Meeting and to assess efforts of the last two years (2014-2016) of implementing PACA activities at continental, regional and national levels in order to capture the attained successes and record challenges, for the development of a clear roadmap for the next two years of implementation, among others.
The Senegalese’ Minister of Commerce, Informal Sector, Consumption, Promotion of Local Products and SMEs, Hon. Alioune Sarr, reaffirmed to the delegates about his country’s commitment to fight and contain aflatoxin contamination in Senegal and Africa as a whole.
Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Hon. Ssempijja Vincent Bamulangaki, outlined the achievements Uganda has made in the fight against aflatoxin contamination, while his counterpart for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, decried the low levels of public awareness on the effects of aflatoxin and the mitigation measures, as well as the “silos” manner in which aflatoxin issues were being handled. She said that the aflatoxin requires a multi-stakeholder approach and the activities for implementation should focus on the causes rather than the symptoms.
The 2nd PACA Platform meeting has brought together over 300 senior government officials from AU Member States mainly from government Ministries of agriculture, trade, and health, farmers organization, consumer associations, large and small business sector representatives, civil society, development partners, donor communities, the AU, and Regional Economic Communities in Africa.