EXPERTS have gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss harmonizing food safety standards across Africa, a step towards accelerating the continent's agricultural trade and realizing its full potential.

The two-day dissemination workshop on trade and food standards brought together more than 200 delegates to review cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in creating a system of international food standards to enhance trade in Africa.

Maryann Kindiki, manager for National Codex Contact Point at Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), an intergovernmental body focused on implementing joint FAO and WHO food standards, said that varying national food safety standards pose a significant technical barrier to intra-Africa trade, particularly in agricultural commodities.

"Countries within Africa can enter into mutual recognition agreements to recognize each other's food safety standards," she said. She emphasized the need to begin aligning food safety standards across various regional economic blocs, such as the East African Community, to promote cross-border trade within Africa.

According to the African Union, the continent's food imports bill stands at an estimated $60 billion annually, despite hosting about 60 percent of the world's arable land.

Geoffrey Odero, senior trade development officer in Kenya's Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, noted that a unified regime of food safety standards could catalyse agricultural production in Africa and reduce the region's dependence on international food imports.

Odero also stressed the importance of establishing regional food safety authorities to oversee the implementation of harmonized standards at border points.

Peter Mutua, manager for the KEBS Food Standards division, said that investments in certification infrastructure to provide testing of food standards are also expected to ease the movement of agricultural products from surplus-producing countries to deficit areas in Africa.