FAO to host workshop and establish regional food safety platform

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping to create a hub to improve food safety in the Near East and North Africa region.

The FAO’s regional office for the Near East and North Africa is involved in the establishment of the Regional Food Safety Research Network and Innovation Hub (RFSRNIH).

The RFSRNIH aims to foster innovation, build regional capacity, and harmonize food safety practices. The hub will serve as a platform to enable collaboration among governments, private sector organizations, academia, civil society, and international partners. It will drive the development, testing, and scaling of food safety solutions tailored to regional needs, while using best practices and technologies.

A workshop to introduce the RFSRNIH is scheduled in Cairo and online on Feb. 19 and 20. It will bring together regional public sector representatives, researchers, innovation ecosystem specialists, and the private sector.

The FAO officials said a collaborative approach will ensure that RFSRNIH is locally relevant and regionally and globally connected, capable of addressing the region’s food safety challenges.

Regional issues
In the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, there is rising food demand driven by rapid population growth, which exposes the area to vulnerabilities in supply chains.

Consumers in several countries face high exposure to contaminated food and foodborne diseases because of factors like climate change, unsafe water supplies, and limited infrastructure and resources.

Effective food safety management requires adoption of innovation and science-based approaches, including updated legislation, competent food safety institutions, effective enforcement, robust monitoring and surveillance programs, reliable data generation mechanisms for risk analysis, and reliable conformity assessment services including laboratory systems.

According to FAO, there are still major challenges in coordination to access fit-for-purpose academic programs, risk assessment initiatives and data, and insufficient training for agri-food system players that hinder the region’s capacity to adopt effective risk management to ensure the safety and quality of traded food.

Creation of working groups
Through interactive sessions, panel discussions, and a research and innovation showcase, the workshop will facilitate knowledge sharing, partnership building, and the co-design of strategies to guide the development of RFSRNIH.

Conference objectives include to establish consensus on priority areas for research, capacity building, and technological innovation to address national and regional food safety challenges as well as to develop a plan to operationalize the RFSRNIH, including timelines, roles, and commitments from stakeholders.

Participants and speakers include government agencies and policymakers, research and academic institutions, technology providers, and representatives of UN organizations such as FAO, WHO, and UNIDO.

In other news, FAO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Municipality, which plays a role in managing environmental, health, and food safety systems in the UAE.

The agreement establishes a framework to improve food safety standards and support school nutrition programs in Dubai. It also includes technical contributions to studies on food safety and the implementation of best practices in the emirate’s agri-food sector. 

The MoU outlines collaboration on technical support for events such as World Food Safety Day and the Dubai International Food Safety Conference, and contributions to global initiatives like the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.  

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/02/fao-to-host-workshop-and-establish-regional-food-safety-platform/