Food Safety: Who's doing what, where and when? Risks from fragmented governance

Queenan, Kevin; Cuevas, Soledad; Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe; Slotow, Rob; Haesler, Barbara

Abstract

This series of five policy briefs draws on research conducted by South African and United Kingdom- based researchers within the SHEFS consortium. The series seeks to encourage policy makers working on the commercial broiler chicken system in South Africa to adopt a broad systems-based perspective in their work.
This brief highlights the risks from the fragmented nature of food safety governance.

This policy brief highlights the fragmented nature of food safety governance within the context of the broiler chicken system and the potential risk of foodborne disease in South Africa. Provision of safe food is a fundamental objective of food systems, yet several weaknesses are present in the broiler chicken system in South Africa. The commercial system, and the formal market it supplies, provide the bulk of broiler meat products to consumers, and therefore are important actors with regard to food safety. Food safety governance sits in three separate government departments, leading to fragmented policies with limited integration and coherence. Private and public food safety surveillance systems lack incentives for co-operation and data sharing. Large-scale commercial actors feel they are over-scrutinised and that smaller informal actors escape enforcement. Perceptions of hostility and mistrust hinder collaborative progress. A dedicated cross-sectoral food safety agency that incorporates private and public stakeholders would provide the potential to rebuild public–private trust, and a foundation for developing more coherent and integrated food safety policies.

Citation

Queenan, K., Cuevas, S., Mabhaudhi, T., Slotow, R., & Haesler, B. (2023). Food Safety: Who's doing what, where and when? Risks from fragmented governance. Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems Programme (SHEFS)

• Report Type: Policy Document
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Publication Date: May 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 2, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Series Number: 4 of 5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14356011