Kenya seeks to boost food safety, quality standards

Codex Alimentarius Commission Chairperson Allan Azegele and Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director Esther Ngari address the media in Nairobi, on January15, 2025. [Gerard Nyele, Standard]

Kenya is looking to advance its global food safety standings following the election of Dr Allan Azegele, as the 21st Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2024.

Dr Azegele is the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

The CAC is the Joint Food Standards Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) charged with developing food and feed international codex standards for safeguarding the health of consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in food.

Azegele's election to the global organisation puts Kenya on the global food safety scene, "necessitating the country to lead from the front."

"There is no food security without food safety," said Azegele during a stakeholder and industry leaders meeting organized by Kenya Bureau of Standards in Nairobi, targeting the food safety and standards ecosystem.

"The standards adopted impact global food safety and specific country economies," he added.

He said adopting Codex standards opens global markets and allows fair trade.

"We have to incorporate Codex standards to our domestic laws, the EAC and even the African Union to facilitate global trade," he said.

Kebs Managing Director Esther Ngari urged sector players to allocate resources towards supporting standards to increase Kenya's export volumes.

"Codex Chairmanship is crucial for positioning Kenya on global trade," she said.

Kenya, predominantly dependent on agriculture has suffered setbacks in its export agenda mainly due to food safety concerns in the global markets.

Globally, an estimated 600 million - almost 1 in 10 people in the world - fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420 000 die every year.

Experts say these losses could be significantly reduced by abiding by set standards.

"A value chain approach is crucial-the farm-to-fork concept must apply; it cannot be at the standards level only," said Hamisi Williams, Deputy Country Representative of FAO.

The upstream food losses (from production to retail) are attributed to technological, infrastructural and capacity limitations, some of which are unavoidable or beyond the control of the value chain actors.

On the other hand, the food wasted downstream (from retail to consumption) can be curbed because it results from deliberate and avoidable actions by the actors.

Codex is an acronym referring to Food Law that governs the development of food standards at the international level.

Currently, Kenya has adopted over 200 Codex standards to facilitate trade and protect the health of consumers.