Africa unites to ensure continental plant and animal health

AGRICULTURAL production and agri-product trade in Africa are facing significant plant health risks which may also affect the health of humans, animals and the environment.

To address these concerns, the Africa Union (AU) has adopted the Plant Health Strategy for African (PHSA). The strategy, which runs from 2022 to 2036, aims to establish robust plant health systems in all AU member states, which would lead to improved livelihoods, enhanced trade and biodiversity conservation.

According to the strategy’s implementation plan, the PHSA seeks to establish a robust and practical management system for producing healthy plants and ensuring food and nutrition security and safe trade for all Africans. “Its mission is to strengthen national plant health systems, with seven strategic objectives at its core. These objectives emphasise the crucial roles and functions of governments, producers and industry players,” reads the 89-page document.

The strategy says to improve coordination, a mechanism that fosters synergy on the continental and regional levels is proposed while central coordination offices, multi-stakeholders forums and alignment platforms will facilitate communication, collaborative planning, data sharing and resource mobilisation.

According to the document, the continued occurrence of plant pests – exacerbated by climate change – results in high rates of plant species loss and biodiversity decline, putting thousands of plant species in Africa at risk.

This, trend, says the AU, “must be reversed, considering agriculture’s crucial role in Africa’s economy, accounting for 40% of gross domestic product, 15% of exports, 60 to 80% of employment and 75% of intra-African trade. If left unchecked, this will undermine Africa’s economic progress and developmental aspirations”.

A four-day validation workshop on the development of continental sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) communication strategies was held in Lusaka towards the end of last year. At the event, the director for agriculture and rural development at the AU commission, Godfrey Bahiigwa, said despite some progress made in ensuring that member states implement science-based SPS systems, there are still significant challenges facing the continent.
Bahiigwa said these challenges include limited resources, weak institutional frameworks and insufficient infrastructure. These challenges, he said, continue to derail the continent’s efforts to meet international standards and respond to SPS-related emerging and re-emerging threats to human, animal and plant health, as well as the environment at large.

“We must make data-driven and evidence-based decision-making a core agenda in strengthening SPS governance in Africa. We must also strengthen our surveillance and monitoring systems, continue to share information on emerging SPS issues, and engage in research and development of new technologies that will assist us in early warning and rapid response to food safety hazards, as well as outbreaks of notifiable animal diseases and plant pests of economic importance,” said Bahiigwa.

The AU has adopted the AU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Policy Framework, a move aimed at helping the continent to improve the SPS initiatives and related activities that are crucial to facilitate intra-regional trade in Africa.