By Conrad Mwanawashe
AFRICA is channelling investment towards strategic communication and knowledge management to improve awareness levels on the African Union (AU) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) policy framework, a workshop to develop a communications strategy Africa’s SPS Programme currently underway in Lusaka, Zambia, has noted.
Limited knowledge management, advocacy, and communication on SPS measures impede information and awareness dissemination among stakeholders, resulting in low compliance and inadequate support for SPS measures and results in food borne disease, pest invasion and reduced productivity.
The implementation of SPS measures has become an important precondition for access to global food markets, and increasingly, for high-value domestic markets in Africa.
Its therefore, pertinent to create the required awareness and communicate effectively about the planned and ongoing SPS measures put in place by various players on the global market.
These measures should be communicated and complied with to be able to effectively attain the Malabo Declaration especially Commitments on tripling intra-African trade in agricultural commodities through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ending hunger and halving poverty by 2025 and beyond.
Knowledge Management and Communication Officer of the African Union Commission (AUC), Peace Mutuwa, told the workshop that SPS measures are crucial for safeguarding human, animal, and plant health, ensuring food safety, and facilitating trade.
“These measures aim to prevent the spread of diseases, pests, and contaminants while facilitating the safe trade of agricultural and food products. SPS issues continue to play a significant role in achieving continental commitments and strategies such as the African Union Agenda 2063 and CAADP Framework that promotes agriculture transformation to improve livelihoods on the African continent. Despite its adoption, the AU SPS Policy Framework, SPS implementation in Africa remains lagging,” said Mutuwa.
The SPS policy results framework articulates the need to invest in strengthened strategic communication and knowledge management aimed at improving the flow of information within the SPS entities at continental, Regional and National level as well as between them and among various stakeholders.
To achieve this goal, AU requires a comprehensive SPS communication and advocacy strategy that would enhance outreach, visibility, advocacy, political ownership and action, resource mobilization, aligned to knowledge management and learning to speed up implementation and investment by different actors.
In addition, the strategy should strengthen engagement, coordination, and partnership on SPS communication to support various SPS initiatives and processes. The communication strategy will model the SPS program as first choice entry point to facilitate intra-regional trade on the continent deepening understanding of the value of SPS measure in trade.
Therefore, the Communications Strategy on SPS remains critical for effective and impactful strategic communication efforts. This strategy will guide and sustain the implementation of communication activities to improve public awareness, stakeholder engagement, and compliance with SPS regulations.
Dr Godfrey Bahiigwa, Director of the AUC Commission on Agriculture and Rural Development, in his welcome remarks read on his behalf by Chiluba Mwape, the Senior Advisor – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Systems of the African Union Commission (AUC), said the SPS Programme for Africa contributes to achieving the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Malabo goal of tripling intra-African (and global) trade and support the AfCFTA’s Annex 7 objectives – to facilitate trade while safeguarding human, animal or plant life in the territory of the Member States.
“It enhances cooperation and transparency in the development and implementation of SPS measures to ensure that they do not become unjustifiable barriers to trade, and enhances the technical capacity of Member States for the implementation and monitoring of SPS measures while encouraging the use of international standards in the elimination of trade barriers,” said Dr Bahiigwa.
Workshop Objective
The main objective of the workshop is to develop a robust and targeted communications strategy for the SPS Programme in Africa. The strategy will outline clear guidelines and approaches for communicating key messages, advocacy, and awareness creation to among key audiences, promoting the goals of SPS programme for Africa, and facilitating sustainable Information and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders.
