BY DR.MOHAMED KHALIF ABDIRAHMAN
Food security, defined by the United Nations as having physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for an active and healthy life, is increasingly recognized as a global challenge.
As populations grow, climate change impacts agricultural productivity, and food systems become more complex, ensuring the stability and safety of food supplies has never been more critical.
At the centre of food security lies the ability to farm, produce, store, process, transport, distribute, and consume food that is not only on abundance but also safe and of high nutritional value. Quality infrastructure (QI) plays a critical role in safeguarding these aspects.
Quality infrastructure refers to the combination of many aspects, but allow me deliberately isolate standards and regulations to ensure food meets safety, quality, and protect environment to achieve food security and safety.
Food safety is backborn of food security. Contaminated food can cause a wide range of health problems, including malnutrition, foodborne illnesses, and even death. Quality infrastructure ensures and minimises the risk of contamination to achieve food security and safety.
Laboratories, regulatory agencies, and standard bodies such as
those set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (which establishes international
food safety and quality standards) are critical in maintaining safe food, consumer health, and preventing disease
outbreaks.
Effective traceability systems central in quality infrastructure to allow regulators and farmers, producers and distribution lines to quickly identify sources of contamination and remove affected products from the market, reducing harm to consumers.
They capitalise on aspects of QI including better utilization of resources, Variety control and Technology transfer just to mention few.
Food quality is not just about safety but also the nutritional value and consistency of food.
Quality infrastructure ensures that food products meet the required standards for taste, appearance, texture, and, importantly, nutritional content.
Following guidelines and specifications guarantees that food products are both safe and beneficial for consumers, abundance and access through principal of standard dimension, Aspect captured in Kenya Kwanza manifesto that all informal and cottage industries be certified for market access earn decent returns, and create jobs.
On a global scale, international trade, food must be safe, efficient, and reliable.
This is where quality infrastructure helps to foster communication and trust among consumers and between trading nations. It is high time
Kenya adhere to the same standards to ensuring our food supplies are adequate
and diverse.
More often we face natural disasters, economic shocks, and other crises that disrupt food supply chains, exacerbating food insecurity.
These has generated a response to the state that looks like a template over the years, especially with the issue of fertilizer that has been in political agenda and manifesto in every election.
I believe having a robust quality infrastructure in place can facilitate a more rapid and effective response. I will keep it simple, Agriculture is devolved; allow counties to test their soil fertility and plant appropriate crops using guidelines and specifications with biased budgeting for small scale irrigation, improve on road networks and build market with proper storage and distribution to facilitate trade of the produce.
Many counties have subscribed to economic blocks, which I believe have a vision to empower their residents taking advantage of their natural resources, engaging financial institutions, and being able to bargain for policy change. What have they achieved so far? Any tangible results from the exploitation of resources they are endured with?
All these basic quality infrastructure requirements are key for
Kenya, and with 47 county governments in place, enough resources can be
harnessed to put up an integrated quality infrastructure network targeting
enhanced food production for our country.
These will remove the burden on national government, de-escalate centralized policies and politics around fertiliser, and allow diverse use of collected revenue.
Governments, non-governmental organizations, and international bodies can leverage quality systems to ensure that food is of high quality and always reach the most vulnerable population efficiently with minimal cost, building trust in trade, supporting sustainable practices, enhancing crisis response, and facilitating innovation to contributes to a stable, resilient, and sustainable food system.
As we face the combined challenges of population growth, climate change, and economic disparity, strengthening quality infrastructure will be a crucial step forward inachieving global food security
Dr. Mohammed Khalif Abdirahman is a philosopher in food science and technology
