USAID and Feed the Future would like to welcome you to Food Safety Month on Agrilinks! As the world faces increased threats from climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, food safety remains a development priority that plays a key role in achieving outcomes that will improve nutrition and build more productive and inclusive communities. This June, we will highlight and discuss the integral role of food safety in helping food systems around the world become more sustainable and resilient. You’ll be able to find all of this month’s content on the Agrilinks front page, on the sidebar to this post and in the biweekly Agrilinks newsletter.

Are you working on food safety in the international development sector? If so, we invite you to submit posts that feature stories, lessons learned, recommendations and resources related to your work on food safety. Please see the Agrilinks posting guidelines!

We are especially excited to engage with you on June 7 — the third annual World Food Safety Day. This year’s theme, "safe food now for a healthy tomorrow," calls attention to the multigenerational benefits of preventing foodborne illness. Please be on the lookout for a blog post from USAID’s division chief for food safety, Kelley Cormier, which will feature a new USAID-authored technical brief on food safety. In addition, please follow these accounts on Twitter for the latest posts and discussion: @Agrilinks, @FeedtheFuture, @_ainfp, @Biz4Food, @GAINalliance, @FoodSafetyIL and @USDAForeignAg.

As we prepare to feature some great new content from USAID’s food safety partners this month, we’d also like to highlight some recommended resources from the past year. Follow the food safety topic on Agrilinks for the full list of content!

Agrilinks food safety resource round-up

Food Safety Week 2020: Last year, during the week of World Food Safety Day, Agrilinks featured a range of resources, reflections and events from USAID and our food safety partners. Please take a look!

Top blog posts

• Food Safety Mythbusting During COVID-19
• SMEs: Key Drivers of Food Safety in Emerging Economies
• Advancing Food Safety in Africa: Opportunities and Action Areas
• The Enabling Environment for Food Traceability Systems: Technical Resources Summary
• Data Systems: Sustainable Solutions for Food Safety

Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Plant Health Distance Learning Modules: This 14-part training series from the Food Safety Network on SPS practices is designed for anyone working in agricultural trade along the value chain. Also see the launch event for the most recent module.

Pursuing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS): This post highlights the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety’s concrete efforts to engage minority serving institutions (MSIs), as well as USAID/RFS’s overall approach to DEI.

Webinar recordings

Mycotoxin series: Spring was abuzz with discussions on mycotoxins and nutrition, hosted by the U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan 2.0 Food Safety sub-group and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition.

• Mycotoxins, Environmental Enteric Dysfunction and Inflammation: Implications for Research and Programming on Child Growth and Nutrition (April 2021)
• Mycotoxin Exposure and Nutritional Status in the First 1,000 Days (April 2021)
• Mycotoxin Exposure and Nutritional Status in the First 1,000 Days: Policy and Programmatic Implications (May 2021)

EatSafe Webinars: Feed the Future’s EatSafe program works to generate evidence on how to engage and empower consumers to demand safe, nutritious foods.

• Webinar 1: Food Safety and Nutrition: How Are They Connected and Why Does It Matter? (August 2020)
• Webinar 2: Food Safety in Traditional Markets in Africa and Asia (August 2020)
• Webinar 3: Measuring Performance for Food Safety (September 2020)
• Webinar 4: Food Safety Oversight and Governance: Building a National Food Safety System That Works for Consumers (January 2021)
• Webinar 5: Impact of COVID-19 on Traditional Markets (April 2021)

Food Safety Innovation Lab Webinars: The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety focuses on reducing the burden of foodborne diseases through research and public-private partnerships.

• Harnessing Food Safety to Address Global Food Security (October 2020)
• Food Safety and One Health: Approaches to Reducing Foodborne Pathogens and Zoonotic Diseases (November 2020)
• Linking Food Safety with Health and Nutrition: Insights and Priorities (February 2021)
• Food Safety and Private Sector Partnerships (March 2021)