Health
Government to Establish Food and Agriculture Regulatory Authority to Tackle Alarming Food Safety Crisis
The Government of Uganda is set to establish a Food and Agriculture Regulatory Authority (FARA) in a major policy shift aimed at addressing the country’s escalating food safety crisis, officials have confirmed.
Despite the government’s ongoing campaign to reduce the number of regulatory bodies, the move to create FARA underscores the urgent and growing threats posed by unsafe food, which experts say is fueling a vicious cycle of disease, malnutrition, and economic loss—especially among the most vulnerable populations.
Speaking at a recent national dialogue on food systems, David Tumwesige from the Department of Crop Production, revealed that the authority was being set up in response to “huge challenges related to food safety” across Uganda’s entire agri-food value chain.
“We are not waiting for FARA to be fully established to act. But we must acknowledge the truth: Uganda lacks a national food safety policy and a clear regulatory framework,” Tumwesige said.
The new authority will take over responsibility for food safety from the Ministry of Health, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) assuming full oversight from this financial year. Tumwesige stressed that food safety “does not begin at the plate, but at the seed,” emphasizing the need for vigilance at every step—from production to distribution.
A policy brief by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) estimates that 1.3 million Ugandans suffer from food-borne illnesses each year, accounting for 14% of all illnesses treated annually. The impact is most severe on infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.
EPRC also noted that Uganda’s food supply chain has been infiltrated by chemical substances of public health concern, including carcinogenic aflatoxins in maize and cassava, and the misuse of pesticides and agro-chemicals—issues compounded by weak enforcement mechanisms.
While Uganda has over 23 laws, 6 policies, 9 regulations, and 12 strategies relating to food and nutrition, food safety remains an “orphaned” aspect under the outdated 1964 Food and Drugs Act, which experts say no longer reflects modern agricultural and technological realities.
A 2023 comparative study by food safety specialist Dr. Diana Akullo Ogwal found that Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya all experience high levels of foodborne illnesses but suffer from poor implementation of existing food laws, undermining public health outcomes.
Experts and civil society organizations are calling for the decentralization of food safety testing and enforcement, pointing out that eastern and northern Uganda currently lack any food safety laboratories.
They also emphasize the need to empower households and local governments to handle, process, and test food, noting that many urban food safety risks stem from informal food vending in unsanitary, undesignated areas like roadsides, taxi parks, and drainage channels.
“Unsafe food is a silent epidemic. Yet enforcement remains weak, and food actors face little pressure to comply,” said a representative from a civil society coalition working on the Right to Food and Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to emphasize that safe and nutritious food is a fundamental human right, and critical to public health and development.
The creation of the Food and Agriculture Regulatory Authority signals a turning point in Uganda’s decades-long struggle to ensure safe food for all. However, experts warn that unless the new authority is adequately funded, staffed, and empowered to enforce standards across the country, the cycle of foodborne illness, mistrust, and economic loss may continue.
As Uganda embarks on this critical institutional reform, the spotlight will be on FARA’s ability to close regulatory gaps, foster accountability, and rebuild confidence in the country’s food systems—starting from seed to plate.
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