Regional-Level Food Safety Frameworks

At the regional level, several policy instruments and strategies aim to improve food safety governance:

• SADC: Food Safety Strategy for the Southern African Development Community;
• COMESA: SPS Regulation and 11th EDF Trade Facilitation Programme focused on harmonization;
• ECOWAS: Harmonized Regional Regulations (C/REG.21/11/10) for plant health, animal health, and food safety;
• EAC: SPS Protocol and adaptable regional food standards;
• IGAD: Regional SPS Strategy implemented in at least five countries.

In addition, ECOWAS has proposed the establishment of a Technical Harmonization Committee to guide the development and maintenance of food safety standards. These initiatives demonstrate growing regional cooperation aimed at improving food safety control systems through risk-based approaches and capacity-building efforts.

National-Level Policy and Legal Frameworks

Five country cases have been selected for the Food Safety Country Profile in Africa: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa—countries that have enacted numerous food safety laws and policies to support public health and facilitate domestic and international trade.

These countries have ratified numerous legislation and policy documents addressing food safety to promote public health and domestic, regional and international trade. Some of the policies and legislation are presented in Table 1. Collectively, these national regulations aim to create a robust foundation for ensuring a safe and sanitary food environment. However, despite this comprehensive legislative framework, several limitations persist in the regulatory system. Many aspects of the framework require alignment with international standards and principles. Key gaps include the insufficient integration of risk management systems covering the entire food supply chain, including the adoption of good agricultural, hygiene, and manufacturing practices. Addressing these gaps is critical to enhancing the effectiveness of food safety legislation. Moreover, the policies and legal frameworks often prioritize the formal sector, leaving informal markets subject to inconsistent enforcement, although regulated by the same policies and legal frameworks of the formal sector.

Despite this progress, significant regulatory gaps persist:

• Many frameworks remain partially aligned with international food safety principles;
• Risk-based approaches across the entire food supply chain are often insufficient;
• Critical good practices—such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are not consistently integrated or enforced.

Moreover, national frameworks tend to prioritize the formal sector, leaving the informal sector largely under-regulated and inconsistently monitored. This gap poses serious food safety risks and limits the reach of current legislation, particularly in urban and peri-urban settings where informal food trade is most active.