More collaboration, studies needed to boost agri-food exports from developing countries

Pesticides are a hot topic when it comes to the intersection of agriculture, trade and food safety.

Pesticides often pose trade problems for agri-food exports from developing countries, especially tropical fruits and vegetables. The first problem is that there are very few maximum residue limits (MRLs) for these “minor use” crops that are so important to small farmers and developing countries. The second problem is that even where there are MRLs, they often differ from international food safety standards set by the FAO / WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, or Codex. When importing countries set their own lower limits, it dramatically increases the costs and complexity of trading.

The WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) pays frequent attention to trade issues related to pesticide MRLs. From 2000 to 2018, pesticide MRLs were the focus of around 20% of all SPS notifications from WTO Members.

Caption: Established in 1963, Codex has developed hundreds of internationally recognized standards, guidelines and codes, and defined thousands of permitted levels of additives, contaminants and chemical residues in foods, including MRLs for pesticides.

Pesticides, agriculture, commerce and health

Farmers around the world rely on pesticides to protect their crops from plant pests and increase yields, which is essential for livelihoods and food security. As climate change brings risks and uncertainties related to new and evolving pests, these products are needed to address the risks associated with existing and new pests, such as the fall armyworm which has reached West Africa in 2016.

Consumers are concerned about human health and the wider environmental impacts of pesticide use. In developing countries, where farmers often only have access to older generation pesticides, lack adequate personal protective equipment, are unable to read or understand labels containing safety instructions, risks linked to improper handling and use of pesticides are even greater.

Faced with inadequate infrastructure and resources, pesticides are also sometimes found in the most unlikely places. A regional study on total nutrition in Cameroon, Benin, Mali and Nigeria – conducted by FAO with government authorities, WHO and the Pasteur Institute, with funding from the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) – revealed high concentrations of pesticide residues in smoked fish consumed in Mali and marketed at the regional level. The study used food contamination data crossed with consumer data from the target population. He found that, lacking proper storage facilities, small traders turned to a pesticide called chlorpyrifos to ward off insects from their smoked fish on market stalls, unknowingly creating risks to human health.

Some crops are considered too “minor” by pesticide manufacturers to justify investments in expensive field trials, registration and submission of datasets to Codex.

The Opportunities: Filling the Gaps in Pesticide Residue Data

Public-private collaboration aims to expand residue programs and strengthen compliance with Codex standards

Second and third generation pesticides are being phased out by developed countries. Yet African farmers have no choice but to use older chemicals as there are few Codex MRLs for newer and less toxic pesticides for their specialty crops. Residue data to establish MRLs and support new product registrations is very rarely generated in developing countries due to increased costs and lower profit margins expected.

In an STDF project in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda, governments partnered with multinational pesticide manufacturer Corteva (Dow), industry association CropLife International, farmers and international partners for a residue study on sulfoxaflor, a new generation pesticide used on mangoes, an export crop on which many small farmers in West Africa depend for their livelihoods.

The study was a major achievement for everyone involved. Field trials had to be set up and implemented to monitor the use of sulfoxaflor. Scientists and regulators have been trained to generate, review and interpret pesticide residue data. Unexpected challenges related to the limited laboratory infrastructure in Africa were overcome. For example, when freezers broke down, ruining samples and requiring repeat field trials.

Despite the obstacles, this collaborative approach was ultimately successful. Project partners completed the residue study, with the complete data package for sulfoxafor / mango submitted to Codex and a new MRL expected in 2022. In Tanzania and Uganda, the private sector registered the new low-level pesticide. risk in 2019 and 2020 respectively, with other countries doing so. The experience paved the way for the adoption of new regional guidelines to harmonize pesticide registration processes in the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) wishing to reproduce the experience.

On the ground, access to sulfoxafor will help farmers to control fruit flies more effectively and meet international standards, facilitating safe trade and providing benefits for agricultural productivity, environmental health and safety. consumers.

Finding the right incentives

The experiences of this regional MRL project in Africa, as well as parallel STDF-funded projects in Asia and Latin America, have underscored the value of public-private partnerships in filling data gaps, generating savings and improving performance. results. Pooling of data has also led to more robust data sets reflecting geographic and climatic diversity. An external evaluation highlighted how the projects catalyzed public-private collaboration to increase knowledge and capacity on pesticide MRLs for the benefit of developing countries.

But experiences have also revealed what happens when incentives for private sector engagement are weak, especially in the poorest countries that benefit the most. Compared to Asia and Latin America, where the incentives were stronger for multinationals to partner with government authorities on tailings studies, in Africa it was much more difficult to obtain and keep companies pesticides on board, along with problems of access to pesticides, expertise and other resources. .

Need for more sustainable solutions to fill gaps in laboratory capacity

In developing and least developed countries, innovative and sustainable solutions are urgently needed to fill gaps in laboratory capacity. Sometimes the problem is simply a lack of basic laboratory infrastructure and equipment. At other times, sophisticated equipment may exist, but there are too few qualified technicians to operate the equipment, or a budget is not available for the reagents and supplies needed to perform diagnostic testing.

Another challenge is the need for different types of expertise for different types of testing. Regional centers of excellence that share expertise and resources have been proposed as a more sustainable solution. For example, an external evaluation of a STDF project aimed at reducing pesticide residues in cocoa recommended that ECOWAS develop a regional pilot “center of expertise” specializing in pesticide residue monitoring in order to promote economies of scale. The development of laboratory infrastructure to support food control systems – including regional reference testing laboratories – is a key element of the African Union’s SPS policy framework for Africa. Greater public-private collaboration can further improve results and sustainability.

What is lacking is the necessary funding to set up and deploy these initiatives.

Stronger food safety systems are essential for public health and food security

Consultations for the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021 underscored the need for increased access to safe, nutritious and affordable food, and the vital role of secure trade in achieving sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction and food security.

Africa has the highest incidence of foodborne illness in the world, killing 137,000 per year and causing 91 million cases of illness, according to the WHO. With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTFA) and the rapid growth in regional agri-food trade, much more investment is needed to improve food security in the public and private sectors.

Making real progress will depend on the effective engagement of diverse stakeholders in agriculture, health, environment, trade and development, and the simultaneous resolution of capacity and capacity gaps. interrelated challenges that exist in multiple areas. Greater action on pesticide residues and the development of laboratory capacity are only part of the solution.

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