Food safety measures during Covid-19
In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the Kenyan government classified agriculture as one of the essential services that will remain undisrupted, in spite of the stringent measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus. In reality, this was easier said than done.
On 27 March, 2020, the government announced a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew from 7pm to 5am. The food sector has subsequently been marred by a series of challenges — from closure of open air food markets, logistical nightmares in food transportation, post-harvest losses due to a drastic drop in consumer demand, and a lack of proper storage, drying and cooling facilities. Moreover, food producers are constantly at risk of being exposed to the deadly coronavirus as they go about their daily activities.
And this list represents just an iota of the myriad of problems that food producers are facing as they struggle to feed the country, while remaining alive themselves.
Under the circumstances, one can only be thankful to get their day’s or week’s ration of food supplies. However, we still need to ask the critical question as to whether the food has gone through the requisite phytosanitary processes.
“Food safety starts at the farm”
According to Sarah Ockman, Global Food Safety Lead, International Finance Corporation (IFC), food safety starts at the farm. Over the years, Kenya has placed ever-greater emphasis on compliance to food safety standards and phytosanitary regulations , as outlined in the comprehensive 2013 National Food Safety Policy.
To date, however, the robust actions spelled out in the policy have only been enforced for produce earmarked for the export market, and have yet to be emulated in the domestic market. Moreover, given that agriculture is now a devolved function, there is also a need for county governments to trickle down the proposed interventions to the grassroots level.
Covid-19 teaches us the importance of adhering to food safety practices right from local informal markets to the high-end supermarkets. On the upside, not everything is gloom and doom. One of the silver linings to the dark cloud of the pandemic is that there is an improvement of good hygiene practices among the general population.
Following good hygiene practices will not only help reduce transmission of the virus, but can also ensure that safer food is available for all, not just the privileged. My hope is that proper hygiene will be the new normal once the Covid-19 storm passes.
Written by Amanda Namayi
This article is part of Covid-19 Food/Future, an initiative under TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability’s SEWOH Lab project (https://www.tmg-thinktank.com/sewoh-lab). It aims at providing a unique and direct insight into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on national and local food systems. Also follow @CovidFoodFuture, our Video Diaries From Nairobi, and @TMG_think on Twitter. Funding for this initiative is provided by BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
