The Standards and Quality Authority discusses organic agriculture and food security in Africa with Al-Arso

Organic agriculturerepresents one of the promising paths to achieve a balance between the requirements of food security and the preservation of natural resources, as it provides more sustainable agricultural production models and the ability to protect soil, preserve biodiversity, and reduce the negative environmental impacts of agricultural activities.

With the escalation of challenges associated with climate change and the increasing demand for food, many countries are moving to adopt agricultural practices based on the environmental approach as an effective tool to enhance the sustainability of food systems and ensure food security for current and future generations.

In this context, Egypt continues its role in supporting the African dialogue on issues of sustainable agriculture and food security, by enhancing cooperation, exchanging experiences, and building regulatory frameworks that support the organic agricultural sector. Believing in the importance of unifying African efforts to confront common challenges, and developing quality systems and standards that contribute to raising the efficiency of agricultural production and enhancing the competitiveness of African products in regional and global markets.

67th African Standardization Organization Symposium

In order to consolidate this role, the Egyptian General Authority for Standardization and Quality, headed by Dr. Khaled Sofi, Chairman of the Authority’s Board of Directors and President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and in cooperation with the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO), hosted the activities of the sixty-seventh electronic symposium, which came under the title: “Ecological and organic agriculture and food security in Africa” with wide participation of experts, specialists, policy makers, and representatives of regional and international institutions and bodies from various African countries.

The symposium discussed the importance of ecological and organic agriculture as one of the main axes for achieving food security and promoting sustainable agricultural development on the African continent, in addition to highlighting the vital role of standard specifications, conformity assessment and certification systems in supporting the organic agriculture sector and raising the competitiveness of African products in regional and global markets.

Innovative solutions to support the sustainability of agricultural production

In his opening speech, Dr. Khaled Sufi stressed that the African continent faces increasing challenges related to achieving food security, climate change, and environmental sustainability, which requires adopting innovative solutions that support the sustainability of agricultural production and enhance the ability of food systems to face future challenges.

He pointed out that ecological and organic agriculture represents a promising model for preserving natural resources, improving soil health and preserving biological diversity, stressing the importance of developing unified standard specifications, effective regulatory frameworks and reliable conformity assessment systems that contribute to building confidence and facilitating intra-African trade

The symposium witnessed a review of the Egyptian experience in the field of organic agriculture, highlighting the state’s efforts in developing legislation and policies regulating the sector, most notably the Organic Agriculture Law and its executive regulations, which contribute to enhancing food safety, preserving the environment, and supporting the competitiveness of Egyptian agricultural products in regional and global markets.

Preparing standard specifications for organic agriculture

The Egyptian General Authority for Standardization and Quality also reviewed its efforts in preparing and developing standard specifications for organic agriculture inputs and its role in supporting the shift towards more sustainable agricultural production systems, based on its national responsibility in developing quality infrastructure, issuing standard specifications, and strengthening the conformity assessment system.

The participants stressed the importance of benefiting from agricultural systems based on the environmental approach to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most notably the second goal calling for eliminating hunger, and the twelfth goal concerned with achieving responsible consumption and production, in addition to the thirteenth goal that deals with climate action, with the necessity of developing and applying standard specifications and unified regulatory frameworks that contribute to enhancing the safety of agricultural products and expanding trade opportunities within the African continent.

At the conclusion of the symposium, Dr. Khaled Sofi expressed his appreciation to the African Organization for Standardization, the speakers and the participants, stressing that the organization’s hosting of this event comes within the framework of its commitment to supporting the standardization, quality and conformity assessment system in Africa, and enhancing cooperation and exchange of experiences between African countries, which contributes to building more sustainable agricultural systems and achieving food security and economic prosperity for the peoples of the continent.

In conclusion, the discussions of the symposium that brought together the General Authority for Standardization and Quality and the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) reveal that achieving food security in Africa has become linked to the ability of countries to build sustainable production systems that preserve natural resources and ensure the quality and safety of products.

From this perspective, organic and ecological agriculture emerges as an integrated model that combines environmental protection, enhancing production efficiency, and raising the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, thus establishing the foundations for more sustainable agricultural development and the ability to face future challenges.

For its part,The Earth Guards Foundation stresses the importance of efforts aimed at developing standard specifications, regulatory frameworks and conformity assessment systems as one of the basic foundations for supporting the shift towards more sustainable agricultural systems on the level of the African continent. It also highlights the Egyptian experience as a model that enhances integration between legislation, quality and sustainability, and highlights the role that unified standards and exchange of experiences can play in supporting intra-African trade and enhancing food security, in order to achieve comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).