FAO, AOAC partner to strengthen food safety labs in West Africa

WEST AFRICA – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has joined forces with the Africa Section of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC International Sub-Sahara) to launch a programme aimed at strengthening food safety laboratories in Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal.

This initiative seeks to support nine pilot laboratories in these three countries by reinforcing both technical and institutional capacities.

During a two-day regional workshop to launch the programme, experts, national food control authorities, and laboratory representatives from across the Sahel were trained on core mentoring tools, including the GLP audit and checklist, laboratory quality assurance systems, and the Laboratory Benchmarking Programme (LBPP). 

The event united all stakeholders around a shared goal: building “a more robust, reliable and resilient food control system” for food safety in the sub-region.

“Food safety is a fundamental pillar of public health, consumer confidence and economic development. In a context of expanding trade, high-performance laboratories are no longer a luxury, they are a strategic necessity,” said Zoéwindé Henri-Noël Bouda, Forestry Officer at the FAO Sub-regional Office for West Africa, speaking on behalf of Bintia Stephen-Tchicaya, FAO Acting Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa.

Persistent challenges, including resource gaps, weak quality systems and limited training, have prompted this joint action to align laboratories with international standards, notably ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP).

“Our laboratories must continue upgrading staff skills with training in validated methods, renew technical facilities and maintain critical equipment,” stressed Fatou Béye Sarré, Director General of the Laboratoire National d’Analyse et de Contrôle (LANAC). 

She noted that continuous improvement is essential to meet customer demands, shorten test result turnaround times, and improve control of food contaminants hazardous to public health.

Professor Amadou Diop, Chairman of the CODEX Alimentarius National Committee, emphasised that reliable data are crucial for measuring the burden of foodborne diseases, developing standards, and facilitating trade. 

“If we want our positions reflected when standards are set, we need valid data, generated by well-equipped laboratories, skilled staff and rigorous procedures,” he said.

Diop also highlighted that adequate controls act as a deterrent, motivating farmers and food processors to supply only quality products.

A visit to LANAC’s facilities on the third day after the workshop provided a practical demonstration of how these standards are applied, enabling direct engagement among experts from food analysis laboratories across the three countries.

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