World Bank Group presents a Webinar on “Food Safety in Healthy Food Systems: Everyone’s Business from Farm to Fork” on Monday June 8, 2020, 8:45 – 10:00 AM EST (14:45 – 16:00 PM Dutch time).

Participants can join the webinar using WebEx

• Call-in number: 1-650-479-3207
• Meeting Number (access code): 475 711 622
• Meeting Password: 3d3eSEYJvP3

Context

The second World Food Safety Day (WFSD) was celebrated on 7 June 2020 to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. This year’s theme “Food safety, everyone’s business” calls attention to the fact that food safety is a shared responsibility among policy makers, farmers, food businesses and consumers.

Through SDG2, the world’s countries committed to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” How can the World Bank help countries achieve this goal? Food safety is an essential part of the puzzle. Food can become contaminated at any point during production, distribution and preparation, compromising health and nutrition. Foodborne illness results in over 420,000 deaths each year, over one third of these are children, and result in $110 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses in low- and middle-income countries alone.

Webinar

“Food Safety in Healthy Food Systems: everyone’s business from farm to fork” recognizes that we all have a part to play in ensuring food is safe.  In 2018, the World Bank produced a report called ‘The Safe Food Imperative’ which noted that food safety in developing countries receives very little policy attention and investment, and only in times of foodborne disease outbreaks and crises is national attention turned to food safety. With supply chain disruptions, market closures and meatpacking health issues related to COVID-19 grabbing news headlines, food safety is rising to the fore again as a pressing concern.

The webinar will provide rich information on what the World Bank Group and partners are doing to help countries improve food safety outcomes. Participants will refresh their knowledge of food safety,  learn from client experiences, and hear how COVID-19 lockdowns and concerns present both opportunities and challenges to the production and delivery of safe and nutritious food from farm to fork.

Programme

The webinar is moderated by Lystra N. Antoine, Program Manager, Agriculture and Food Global Practice, World Bank

Welcome Remarks
By Julian Lampietti, Practice Manager, Global Engagement, Agriculture and Food Global Practice, World Bank

Speakers
Martien Van Nieuwkoop, Global Director, AGF Global Practice, World Bank and Kelley Cormier, USAID Division Chief, Food Safety will address the following questions:

• What can we do to make a sustained difference in food safety?
• Does COVID-19 present any opportunities for achieving improved food safety outcomes globally?

Learn about IFC’s Food Safety resources and tools
Melvin Spreij, Head, Standards and Trade Development Facility, David Ivanovic, Senior Private Sector Specialist, IFC, Christian Berger, Senior Agricultural Economist, World Bank will reflect on how COVID-19 is impacting the design and delivery of programs to improve food safety in our client countries.