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Food safety and quality

Across the globe

Click on the map above to learn more about the assessments FAO has supported, or is currently supporting, around the world.

In Africa

As part of a three‑year project funded by the European Union – Strengthening Food Control and Phytosanitary Capacities and Governance – FAO supported ten African Union (AU) countries in assessing their national food control systems. A team of experts from the FAO Food Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF) provided technical support, working with competent authorities and leading institutions in each country. With FAO’s support, the countries implemented the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool to enhance national capabilities, strengthen governance and improve strategic planning around food safety. The project also included a plant‑health component, led by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, which supported 12 AU countries in evaluating their plant‑health systems using the Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation tool.

Both components – food control and plant health – are key to ensuring safe food across the region. 

FAO has analysed the results of these assessments, including common challenges, priorities and outcomes.

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Contact

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Interviews
An interview with Alexis Kabayiza, Government Coordinator in Rwanda
20/02/2024
Dr Kabayiza is the Government Coordinator of the “Strengthening Food Control and Phytosanitary Capacities and Governance” in Rwanda. He has been Chief Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade since 2021. We wanted to learn more about him, about his background, what led him to our project and how he sees the project impacting his country.
Interview with Yousouf Gaungoo
20/12/2023
We sat down with Yousouf Gaungoo, Principal Public Health and Food Safety Inspector and Regional Health Officer in Mauritius, and government coordinator for the EU-funded project “Strengthening food control and phytosanitary capacities and governance.” We wanted to learn more about him and how he got involved in food safety. We also wanted to gain a better understanding of the food control system in Mauritius and how he saw the project potentially impacting the system and food safety in his country.
Interview with Sarah Brunel on a food safety/plant health project
10/08/2023
We had a conversation with Sarah Brunel, Implementation and Facilitation Unit Lead at the IPPC Secretariat, who is working on an FAO project that has two components: promoting food safety and plant health. While most of our questions focused on the project, first we heard a bit about her story and where she comes from.  
Interview with Catherine Bessy - Senior FAO Food Safety Officer
04/07/2023
Catherine Bessy recounts how her childhood eating in her grandmother’s Paris kitchen and working the summers on her family’s farm gave her an early exposure to the importance of healthy food and planted the seeds of a career in which she has sought to improve food safety around the globe through good governance and smart policy.
Publications
Synthetic Report - Food Control Systems in Focus: Regional Priorities and Strategic Action
2025

This report synthesizes key findings, strategic priorities, and capacity-building needs identified through national Food Control System (FCS) assessments and strategic action plans developed by ten countries participating in the project GCP/GLO/949/EC, "Strengthening Food Control and Phytosanitary Capacities and Governance."