Global knowledge of pre-harvest factors in food safety, particularly regarding water quality, must be ensured that safety is built into food production to prevent foodborne illness before they begin. Effective measures in protecting the health of consumers also enhances the value of food with higher economic returns for both domestic and international trade networks. Especially as global water scarcity pushes towards the use of poor-quality water sources, better understanding of the connections between water quality and food safety is needed to improve global health and sustainable agricultural and environmental outcomes. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will utilize and leverage its existing government, research, and private sector knowledge networks and associated developed tools to raise awareness and build on the networks and learning products for introducing innovative techniques and best practices on land and water management for improved food security. This project has three core goals, primarily to raise awareness of key stakeholders on the relationship between water quality and food safety from field-to-fork, across the supply chain. Expert consultation and guidelines will act as the foundation for targeted trainings on the farm and authorities at the country, regional, and global levels. On the farm best practices and low-cost agricultural interventions will be developed to mitigate production risks to food safety. On the regional and global levels, trainings and workshops will focus toward sustainable land and water management strategies and directed monitoring. The third goal will be targeted pilot projects aimed at in-depth institutional capacity building in evidence-based technologies, such as Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) techniques and hydrological modeling, to increase risk-assessment capacity in identifying and tracking waterborne pathogens. Ultimately, this novel approach to food safety monitoring systems will contribute to global understanding of risk paradigms in preventing foodborne illnesses and improve cross-collaboration between sectors. Global meetings and technical roundtables will facilitate data sharing and common risk prevention approaches for a safer global food supply chain.
This project aims to strengthen global food safety through the promotion of healthy and safe food via prevention-based food production practices in sustainable land and water management for producers and growers for reduced incidence of foodborne contamination from source, improved protection of supply chain controls and food safety, enhanced economic development and improving livelihoods by facilitating access to domestic, regional and international markets. Water plays a central and connecting role in food production, animal health, public health and the environment and the linkages between agricultural water quality and use and the incidence of foodborne pathogens must be further understood to develop the evidence-based policy guidance necessary for the effective prevention, detection and response to disease outbreaks. Developing preventative measures to pathogens in water through sustainable land and water management for agriculture production, enhancing monitoring systems to consistently included pre-harvest factors that may also affect food safety and utilizing metagenomics science and hydrological modelling to expand collective knowledge of global geographic variation of foodborne pathogens in water used for irrigation are key to shifting the focus of regulators towards preventing, rather than responding to, foodborne contamination at source.
