The common saying “we are what we eat” is indeed not far from the truth. Whenever we fall sick, among the first areas of diagnosis, is usually what is ingested. In the same vein, among key aspects a recovering patient is prescribed to accelerate healing, is food.

What are we really eating?

In Sub Saharan Africa, urbanisation is occurring at a rate of 3.6% - a rate that is almost double the world average. With these transitions, comes an increase in food demand and a rise in urban farms and informal food traders. These are traders who are largely non-compliant with municipal licensing and regulation. And the market they serve is significant.

 For example, up to 90% of supply of leafy vegetables in some Africa cities is sourced from urban farms and supplied through informal traders. This is critical to not only driving food security in urban Africa but also creating primary and supplemental income opportunities. In some cities, the economic return to urban farmers has been estimated to be comparable to the income of unskilled construction workers and on some cases more lucrative. During dry seasons, in some cities, farmers using wastewater irrigation, which is free, can sell vegetables at above double the wet-season price. Urban agriculture incomes are also estimated to be up to 50% above minimum wage.

The economic and social benefits of urban farming notwithstanding, the food safety and health concerns stand out as critical. Among health risks associated with urban farming include hazardous biological and chemical exposures among farmers and consumers as a result of wastewater use on vegetable crops. Microbial as well as heavy metal contamination on vegetable samples obtained from sewage irrigated urban farms in the continent have been found to contain lead contamination that is up to 3.9 times higher than recommended limits.

This is in addition of high soil concentration levels of other heavy metals including cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. If current balances persist for another one to two decades, vegetables raised in some of these urban gardens will likely be unsuitable for human consumption. This sewage effluent also contains high levels of essential plant nutrients. As a result, some urban farmers prefer to use wastewater, even where fresh water is available – because they get “free” fertiliser. As many as 60% of urban farmers in some Africa cities use wastewater for irrigation. In just one African country, an estimated one million people in urban areas eat vegetables produced with polluted water every day.

Globally, wastewater crop irrigation risks health of nearly a billion people. These heavy metals are associated with diverse health risks – from cancer, to skin damage, kidney damage, heart diseases, anaemia, cholesterol and gastrointestinal disorders. Wastewater irrigation combines viciously with improper use of chemical fertilisers and agrochemicals to further compound risks. In some places, up to 85% of urban and peri-urban farmers have no formal training on application of chemical fertilisers which they use.

The writing is therefore on the wall. Food safety enforcement ought to go beyond traditional bureaucratic systems that find it challenging to police the informal food supply chain – especially in Africa’s urban areas.

Achieving food safety in Africa’s informal food supply chain under climate change

Informal food trade and supply chains are the major source of vegetables and fruits consumed by most people in African cities. Measures to inculcate food safety need to be urgently undertaken to reverse the silent suffering of millions of lives across the continent and elsewhere and this needs to be done in a way that works with the environment and not against it.  Leveraging climate action solutions and  a combination of incentives that can drive smart enforcement within local structures is the urgent imperative of now to save lives. To get us going in this direction, we cannot ignore realities.

These informal food traders are part of Africa’s informal sector that accounts for over 80% of all employment in sub-Saharan Africa. This sector has also been described as the “present and future” of work in Africa. The increasing rate of urbanisation provides a ready lucrative market for them, including urban farmers. This means that we must appreciate the fact that banning these informal traders is not an option. Rather what we need to do is enhance the level of traceability and accountability in how they conduct their enterprises. To this end, the following will be key ....Read more from the attached document