The ‘Coordinating Committee for Africa’ was established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1972 with a mandate to “exercise general coordination in the preparation of standards relating to the region of Africa”. The committee held its first meeting at FAO in 1974, with 19 countries in attendance.
As the new regional coordinator begins their term, the Agreement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into effect in May 2020, has reinforced the need for an efficient and effective system for managing sanitary and phytosanitary measures, in particular food safety, across the continent as its borders open for trade.
As the new CCAFRICA Coordinator, The Gambia commits to serve as a strong pillar in codex work for the African region and will provide strong leadership and positive influence for a better, stronger, and united Africa in food safety and trade facilitation while leaving no one behind.
Our priority focus would be on effective participation in Codex work, capacity development, advocacy, resource mobilsation and harmonization of standards, guidelines, and regulations. The completed CCAFRICA implementation plan of the Codex Strategic Plan 2026 – 2031, will be the basis for consolidating and galvanizing the CCAFRICA region to achieve the goals of the Codex five-year plan.
Effective and sustained communication and consultation with members, stakeholders, partners and the Codex secretariat will be the basic tool for our success. We will leverage on existing tools and platforms while at the same time embracing new technologies in closing the digital divide. Together, we will make the food in the region safer, more nutritious, and highly tradable.
As part of the preparations for the World Food Safety Day, Action des Nutritionnistes du Congo (ANUCO) is organizing a workshop on June 7 that will bring together stakeholders from the food sector (farmers, fishermen, merchants, transporters, vendors, NGOs, churches, associations, researchers and nutritionists) to reflect on food management practices to prevent foodborne illnesses. This workshop will be followed by an awareness campaign carried out across the provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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World Food Safety Day [...]
The Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mauritius hosted a webinar on food safety to mark World Food Safety Day.
The event was convened by Associate Professor Daya Goburdhun and featured two guest speakers from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The event was aimed at academia, university students, stakeholders from the food sector, regulators, the hotel sector and food testing labs.
Speakers included Catherine Bessy, Senior Food Safety Officer at FAO, who [...]
By Hakim B. Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator, FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa
Food Safety Experts drawn from 23 African countries (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe) completed an intensive 5-day training session on Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) for animal disposition studies that was held in Rabat, Morocco ,31 March to 4 April 2025. The main purpose of the training was to [...]
By Milagrosa Mondlane, Secretary, National Codex Committee, Eswatini Standards Authority
The Eswatini National Codex Committee (NCC) convened a national meeting on Friday 21 March 2025 at the Eswatini Standards Authority to review and plan strategic activities for the 2025/26 period. This critical session aimed to strengthen Eswatini’s engagement with the international Codex Alimentarius framework and ensure that national food safety and quality standards align with global best practices.
The discussions focused on reviewing past performance, identifying challenges, and setting priorities for the [...]
Madame Adana Maimouna heads up a 1200-member shea butter cooperative society in Nahouri province, Burkina Faso. Every member of her cooperative is a woman.
The shea butter sector is dominated by women, who make up 98 percent of the entrepreneurs within the supply chain in countries across West Africa. According to Adana, the income women earn from working in the shea butter sector allows them both to support their families and to contribute to the development of their communities. Since the adoption [...]
As part of the Codex Trust Fund project in Zimbabwe, FAO has carried out training to disseminate knowledge and build capacity, particularly in relation to the Codex standards-setting process. The four-day workshop took place 3–7 February 2025 and was attended by participants from both the public and private sectors.
“The training is part of the Codex Trust Fund project, which seeks to rejuvenate Codex Alimentarius activities in Zimbabwe by expanding knowledge and understanding of Codex at national level among key policy [...]
The 25th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa has concluded, following in-depth discussions on topics of regional concern and on new work proposals, and with the nomination of the Gambia as the new Regional Coordinator.
“I think we have been very accommodating to each other, to ensure we have been able to work swiftly through this session, to have documents that will be proceeding to the next stages,” said the Chairperson, Hakim Mufumbiro, upon adoption of the meeting report. [...]
The 25th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa has commenced in Kampala, Uganda, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Committee.
All speakers at the opening ceremony acknowledged the regional and global challenges faced by countries in the CCAFRICA region, and recognized Codex as key in addressing those challenges related to food safety and trade. “Emerging hazards, climate change, and new technologies require our regulatory systems to adapt quickly,” said the Honourable Francis Mwebesa, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. [...]
As the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) prepares to host its first fully in-person session since the pandemic, we sat down with Hakim Mufumbiro, Chair of the meeting. Hakim shared insights into the challenges and expectations of returning to a physical format, the critical agenda items that will steer the region's food safety strategies, and his vision for this meeting.
Hakim, thank you for joining us. While you are a familiar face in the Codex family, there might be new [...]
The Entidade Reguladora Independente da Saúde (ERIS) of Cabo Verde participated in the 17th ordinary meeting of the National Codex Alimentarius Commission (CNCA) on December 17, 2024.
The main objectives of the meeting were to present the balance of: the CNCA's Activity Plan for 2024; the Codex Alimentarius Trust Fund Project - Cabo Verde (FFC II - CV 2024); and the STDF/PPG/869 Project funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) program. In the meeting also discussed and analyzed the proposed [...]
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