The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) are working on the establishment of a Regional Food Safety Research Network and Innovation Hub (RFSRNIH), designed to enhance coordination and knowledge-sharing to improve food safety across the Near East and North Africa region. The groundwork for RFSRNIH will be laid at a co-creation workshop taking place online and in-person in Cairo, Egypt on February 19–20, 2025.

The establishment of RFSRNIH is prompted by Near Eastern and North African consumers being exposed to contaminated food and foodborne diseases at high rates, due to factors like climate change, unsafe water supplies, and limited infrastructure and resources. The problem is exacerbated by rising food demand associated with population growth, which has exposed the region to vulnerabilities in global supply chains.

Effective food safety management in the Near East and North Africa require the adoption of updated food legislation, competent food safety institutions, effective enforcement capabilities, robust monitoring and surveillance programs, reliable data generation mechanisms for risk analysis, and reliable conformity assessment services, including laboratory systems. However, there still exist substantial hurdles related to coordination of access fit-for-purpose academic programs, risk assessment initiatives, and data, as well as insufficient training for agri-food system stakeholders.

RFSRNIH aims to address these challenges by encouraging collaboration throughout the Near East and North Africa, and by catalyzing the transformation of agri-food systems in the region by fostering innovation, building regional capacity, and harmonizing food safety practices. RFSRNIH will serve as a platform to enable collaboration among governments, the private sector, academia, civil society, and international partners. It is intended to drive the development, testing, and scaling of innovative food safety solutions tailored to regional needs, while leveraging best practices and technologies.

The RFSRNIH co-creation workshop, hosted by the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa and SSTC, will establish a shared vision and roadmap for the hub, and lay the groundwork for future efforts.