Strategic Priorities for an Aflatoxin-free Africa

CTA Cross-Learning Workshop and Writeshop

Informing Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Practice: Strengthening the Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus and Improving

Outcomes

21-25 September, 2015 Novotel Hotel, Dakar, Senegal

PACA Secretariat

Aflatoxins: impacts and contributing factors

PACA: birth, strategy for aflatoxin control in Africa

-- PACA Activities and the Malabo Declaration-- Aligning PACA Activities to the CAADP Framework

The three-tier Government Involvement Strategy

Summary

Outline

Aflatoxin is a developmental challenge toAfrica, adversely affecting three sectors:

Public health

Food and nutrition security

Trade and economy

The most toxic and carcinogenic of 300–400 naturally occurring fungal metabolites

Produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and related species

Highly stable compounds, withstand normal food/feed processing procedures

Aflatoxins: impact and factors

Public Health Impacts Directly linked to exposures

Photo credit: Dr. Lamine Senghor

Photo credit: Dr. Benedikt Warth

Photo credit: 2013 CLC Training Week

Photo credit: 2013 CLC Training Week

AcuteImmune system

suppression

Chronic effectsHepatic carcinoma

Stunting and underweight in children

4.5 billion people are chronically exposed (WHO, 2004)

Diff

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f det

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Sym

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Kenya case study:1981, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006,

201441.5% case fatality

Trade Impacts

‘Pyramids’ of bags of groundnut ready for export in the 1970’s, West Africa; an industry that succumbed to aflatoxin contamination

Africa loses $450-670 million annually in lost export trade

Weak institutional capacity: policy,

regulations, putting research into use

Factors Contributing to the Aflatoxin Challenge in Africa

Poorlycoordinatedresponses

Conducive climatic conditions

Traditional crop production and

post-harvest practices

Food insecurity and limited

dietary diversity

Low awareness levels

Complex problem; difficulty targeting

interventions

Aflatoxin management calls for ‘a bag of tricks’(integrated, valid options) to

address this complex problem

RegulationTech. solutions

Policy & institutions

Photo credit: merchant-medieval.com

Awareness

PACA is an attempt to advocate for, share knowledge, and catalyze coordinated aflatoxin control efforts on the continent

PACA Genesis and Progress

20142013201220112010

Consultation on an African response to the aflatoxin challenge – 2012 (at the 7th CAADP PP in Yaounde Cameroon)

Birth of the partnership platform – 2012 (PACA Secretariat functional at AUC and MoU between AUC and Meridian signed in September 2012

Official launch and AUC leadership – 31st October 2012 (launch of PACA at joint Ministerial Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture and Ministers of Trade)

Strategy development and stakeholder engagement – April 2013 (at Dar es Salaam where PACA 10 year strategy was developed in a consultative workshop)

Country activities Kick-off – March 2014 (at 10th CAADP PP in Durban, South Africa, PACA selection process presented at side meeting; PACA-RECs-NEPAD consultation to select 5 pilot countries)

PACA’s strategic thematic areas (STAs) and key result areas (KRAs)

Research and Development

Policies, legislation, and

standards

Trade and health

Enhancing capacity

Public awareness,

advocacy, and communication

KRA 1.1: Generating information and evidencesKRA 1.2: Facilitating technology adaptation and adoptionKRA 1.3: Developing new technologies and knowledgeKRA 1.4: Enhancing access to research facilities

KRA 2.1: Enhancing policy analysis and formulationKRA 2.2: Facilitating policy advocacyKRA 2.3: Promoting standards and regulations

KRA 3.1: Facilitating growth in trade and commerce in priority aflatoxin-prone commodities

KRA 3.2: Creating incentives that encourage positive behaviors with respect to aflatoxin management

KRA 5.1: Increasing public awareness, information sharing and knowledgeKRA 5.2: Improving policy and political will through targeted communication

KRA 4.1: Risk assessment to inform decision makingKRA 4.2: Competency and infrastructure for aflatoxin testingKRA 4.3: Improving capacity of value chain actors, civil society organizations

and health practitioners

Strategic Action Area 1b of the ISR of Malabo declaration : Market infrastructure, regional trade and integration, and value chains development

“Harmonize trade regimes, measures and standards, and remove non-tariff barriers (NTBs) within and across regional trade blocks (RECs), and domesticate and implement regional and continental trade agreements at national level”

PACA Activities and the Malabo Declaration:Commitment # 5: To Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agricultural Commodities & Services

• HOW IS PACA’S CONTRIBUTION BEING TO BE MADE ?– 5 key actions :

• Narrow the gap in SPS capacity: Employ aflatoxin control as an entry point to build food control systems

• Support “universal” food safety standards (regarding access to international market)

• Promote alignment and collaboration across countries (Organize Continental and Inter-Regional convenings to share new developments and best practices)

• Knowledge Management: PACA’s AfricaAIMS targets harmonized data collection and making credible information available

• Mutual Accountability – through annual readouts and regular reporting

Linking PACA Activities to CAADP

The PACA Secretariat’s mission is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of governments to tackle the aflatoxin challenge in Africa

Rationale 1: Governments have wide sphere of influence: they can enact policies and launch initiatives that change behaviors and set priorities for all other stakeholdersRationale 2: Despite governments’ wide sphere of influence, there are few actors currently focused on supporting governments set a cohesive agenda for aflatoxin control

Rationale 3: The Secretariat can directly support governments and forge strong partnerships with other aflatoxin control stakeholders

Comparative Advantages of the PACA Secretariat

Advantages of being an African Union-Based Organization

1. Access to high-level government stakeholders

2. Authority to convene high-level REC and government stakeholders

3. Authority to set agenda for stakeholder conventions

4. Support from a large, diverse multi-stakeholder community

5. Ability to leverage the established CAADP framework to set priorities

6. Neutral, unbiased third party image

7. Esteemed, high-quality brand

– Continental

– Regional

– Country

Three-Tier Government Involvement

Continental-level Activities:

Identify, document, and disseminate best practices and effective technologies to mitigate the harmful effects of aflatoxin

Serve as a technical knowledge hub for all aflatoxin research documents

Monitor aflatoxin control outcomes across the continent

Knowledge Management

Secretariat’s Continental

Activities

Convene biennial PACA Partnership Platform meeting; work with RECs to organize additional inter-regional meetings; promote alignment; share new developments and best practices; resolve specific challenges / bottlenecks across countries and regions

Continental & Inter-Regional Convenings

Aflatoxin Mainstreaming into Continental Frameworks

Meet and communicate with CAADP, CODEX, and other continent-wide frameworks

Ensure consistency and congruency between continental and regional frameworks and country plans

Regional-level Activities:

EAC and COMESA

COMESA

EAC and SADC

ECOWAS

COMESA and SADC

SADC

COMESA, SADC, and ECCAS

ECCAS

SADC and ECCAS

Regional Economic Communities1

Collaborate to define the country plan approach across pilot countries

Collaborate to support the development and monitoring of country plans

Responsible for ensuring consistency and congruency between country plans and ongoing REC activities, as well as REC policies and frameworks

The Secretariat will provide grants to fill government capacity needs identified in country plans, while RECs will supervise and manage the implementation of all capacity support efforts and take over the financial and implementation responsibility

REC Engagement and Support

Collaboration with RECs in three areas Thus, the Secretariat will: Ensure that

Secretariat activities are aligned to RECs’ aflatoxin priorities and activities

Collaborate and provide financial support for the regional aflatoxin convenings

Provide technical support for ongoing REC activities

Support RECs’ capacity to independently own country plan execution long-term

Organize regional convenings to promote the execution of country plans and REC priorities

Regional Convenings

Harmonize regulatory frameworks and prioritize aflatoxin control efforts through regional frameworks

Harmonization of Regulatory Frameworks

Jointly own and advise design and execution of all steps in the country planning approach

RECs will guide and advise governments the implementation of the country plan

The Secretariat will support RECs by providing grants to countries for gov’t capacity support

Country Planning & Execution

Country-level Activities:Prepare Country Plans: Year 1 Execute Country Plans: Year 2 - 5

Stage 1: Gather evidence to inform plan

Stage 2: Validate & finalize

country plan

Stage 3: Support gov’t capacity to implement plan

Stage 4: Monitor

progress and advocate

The Secretariat will enhance government capacity to implement the plan and

monitor progress, but will not implement or fund country plan activities. However,

it will support resource mobilization strategy and plan

Pilot countries: Gambia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda,

Phased Approach to Scale Country Level Activities

Phase 1: Design Country Planning Approach

Phase 2: Pilot the Country Plans

Phase 3: Review Progress1

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Phase 4: Scale to a Continental Level

Pilot Country Activities:

1. Establish Africa Aflatoxin Information Management System (AfricaAIMS)

2. Support Country-led food safety and aflatoxin Situation Analysis and Action Planning (C-SAAP)

3. Validation of national aflatoxin control plans and mainstreaming through CAADP NAFSIPs and other frameworks

The August 2013 Steering Committee Meeting approved country activities

Advocacy and Communication:

• PACA policy briefs:

• PACA Newsletters, Vol. 3 Issue 1 & 2

• PACA website

UN Agencies

PACA is overseen by a multi-stakeholder steering committee that provides overall leadership and drives the strategic

direction of PACA

Aflatoxin is a developmental challenge to Africa

Moral reason and economic and social imperative to mitigate the aflatoxin problem

Partnership, multi-sectoral and integrated approach is key to deal with the complex problem of aflatoxin contamination

Phased approach, coherent strategies and evidence-based plans, and accountability and measuring progress are vital for greater impact

Summary

Let’s continue to work together for “An Africa Free From the Harmful Effects of

Aflatoxin!”

Photo credit: Dr. Lamine Senghor