Food Safety in Southern Africa: rethinking world health worries - SAIIA

This briefing from the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the intersection of food safety, health security, and human security in Southern Africa. It argues that food insecurity and reliance on unsafe food sources strain already constrained health systems and hinder socioeconomic development, calling for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to increase agricultural capacity and reduce dependence on food exports and aid.

• Food safety issues in developing countries are closely tied to food insecurity, where impoverished populations rely on food parcels and unsafe, spoiled, or bacteria-ridden food due to insufficient agricultural yields.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that unsafe food causes over 200 diseases, including meningitis, cancer, and diarrhoea. Waterborne and foodborne diarrhoeal diseases cause approximately 2 million deaths annually, primarily affecting women and children.
• Globalisation has introduced new food handling techniques that increase contamination risks, including longer food chains, technological changes, and antimicrobial resistance caused by the overuse of antibiotics.
• Health systems in Southern African developing nations are strained by the combination of food and health insecurity, as they already manage high levels of malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS, while funding for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) remains limited because donors prefer funding communicable and infectious diseases (90% of funding).
• The Southern African Development Community (SADC) must use its Multi-Country Agricultural Productivity Programme (MAPP) to increase agricultural capacity and reduce reliance on food aid and exports to avoid continued economic underdevelopment and dependence on donor intervention for healthcare.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2015). Food Safety in Southern Africa: rethinking world health worries - SAIIA. https://saiia.org.za/research/food-safety-in-southern-africa-rethinking-world-health-worries/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Food Safety in Southern Africa: rethinking world health worries - SAIIA. 2015. https://saiia.org.za/research/food-safety-in-southern-africa-rethinking-world-health-worries/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Food Safety in Southern Africa: rethinking world health worries - SAIIA |date=1 June 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/food-safety-in-southern-africa-rethinking-world-health-worries/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2015food, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Food Safety in Southern Africa: rethinking world health worries - SAIIA}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/food-safety-in-southern-africa-rethinking-world-health-worries/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }