Food Safety Magazine - October/November 2017

GLOBAL FOOD SAFETY
IICA’s Role in Improving
Global Food Safety
How the Inter-American
Institute for Cooperation on
Agriculture strengthens global
food safety capacity

The availability of safe food is fundamental to ensuring human health and productivity, national economic well-being and poverty reduction. The 2010 World Health Organiza- tion (WHO) Global Burden of Foodborne Disease report estimated that 600 million people fall ill each year after consuming contaminated food. Of these, an estimated 420,000 people will die. Foodborne illnesses result from the ingestion of contaminated foods and include a broad group of illnesses caused by pathogens, chemicals and parasites that contaminate food during production, processing and distribution. International trade, migration and travel can increase the spread of dangerous pathogens and contaminants in food, making food safety a truly global issue.

The Americas are one of the world’s leading food producing and exporting regions. Covering one-quarter of Earth’s land area and home to over 1 billion people, the hemisphere has enormous natural wealth, a diverse and productive agricultural industry and a robust family farming sector. Despite these advantages, or perhaps due in part to them, food safety is of central importance to all countries in the region, regardless of their level of development. Beyond threats associated with any specific product or contaminant, the most pressing challenge is to establish, promote and support a food safety culture, one in which all consumers both expect and have access to healthy food, regardless of where or by whom it is produced.

This challenge is manifest in divergent food production and food safety systems that would appear to offer different assurances for domestically consumed products versus those intended for export. Costs, prices and foreign consumer demand drive this bifurcation, which can erode a country’s food safety culture by presenting confusing, mixed messages to domestic consumers and increasing the gap between public and private sector technical capacities to ensure consumer safety. To be successful in today’s marketplace, countries must navigate this challenge with forethought, patience and skill to protect consumers while maximizing both domestic and international opportunities.

IICA and Food Safety

For 75 years, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has promoted agricultural development and well-being in its 34 Member States. IICA has evolved into an international technical cooperation organization that responds to the demands of the agricultural sector. This sector is the engine of development in the Americas, capable of generating economic growth and prosperity for the region’s population. Unlocking the agricultural sector’s potential is crucial to achieve food security, one of humankind’s greatest challenges.

IICA provides results-based technical cooperation through close collaboration with its Member States. With its network of offices, IICA has demonstrated expertise in working with governmental and private sector counterparts, sharing its wealth of experience in areas such as technology and innovation for agriculture, agribusiness, agricultural trade, rural development, natural resource management and agricultural health and food safety (AHFS).