BY TANDZILE DLAMINI
MBABANE—The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is driving efforts to enhance food safety and reinforce the rule of law in Eswatini through the Governing for Sustainable Agrifood Systems: Strengthening Legislation and Building Capacity to Support Implementation, Compliance and Enforcement (ACE Programme).
The ACE Programme focuses on strengthening compliance, implementation, and enforcement of legal frameworks in agrifood systems. Its goal is to ensure that national policies and international standards for sustainable food production and natural resource management are fully operationalized.
The programme’s first stage is focusing on countries in Southern Africa, including Eswatini, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, with a special focus on One Health, which connects human, animal, and environmental health. In Eswatini, FAO is reviewing food safety laws and working to fix gaps in how they are applied and enforced. A national legal report has been produced, providing an overview of current laws and suggestions for improvement.
In partnership with Nelson Mandela University, FAO has also developed a training curriculum aimed at strengthening the capacity of regulators, prosecutors, and municipalities. The training emphasizes constitutional supremacy, the rule of law, and effective enforcement mechanisms, including criminal, civil, and administrative measures. Participants also gain hands-on skills in inspections, evidence collection, arrests, searches, seizures, court testimony, and trial procedures.
“This workshop has been an eye-opener in sensitizing the judiciary about food safety and in training prosecutors on gathering information to defend cases and sensitizing municipalities to bring food safety cases to court,” said Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi.
Echoing this commitment, FAO Assistant Representative Tendai Munyokoveri said: “Food safety is at the heart of what we do at FAO Legal Office to build capacity in member countries, so that they can develop standards, policies, and the whole judicial ecosystem for a better life for all.”
Through initiatives like the ACE Programme, FAO is reinforcing Eswatini’s capacity to uphold food safety, the rule of law, and sustainable agrifood systems, paving the way for healthier communities and stronger legal governance.
(Courtesy Pics)
