Food Safety Legislation, Standards, and Measures in Ethiopia: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND

Low-income countries such as Ethiopia face significant food safety challenges due to weak regulatory enforcement, limited infrastructure, and rapid urbanization. In addition, the rising incidence of foodborne illnesses and emerging bioterrorism threats underscore the urgent need for robust legislation, effective regulation, and coordinated food safety measures.

OBJECTIVES

This review aimed to assess the food safety regulatory framework, standards implementation, and on-the-ground practices in the context of Ethiopia.

METHODS

This scoping review included peer-reviewed articles and gray literature, such as institutional reports and unpublished documents. Data were retrieved from Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and relevant organizational websites. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR 2020 checklist, with document selection guided by the SPIDER framework.

RESULTS

Ethiopia has adopted a multi-agency food safety governance model involving several sectoral institutions, notably the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority and the Ministries of Health, Trade and Industry, and Agriculture. Despite this institutional architecture, implementation is constrained by weak enforcement, poor intersectoral coordination, limited adoption of internationally recognized food safety certification systems, and inadequate foodborne disease surveillance, resulting in persistent deficiencies in food safety and handling practices across the food supply chain.

CONCLUSION

Despite the presence of food and nutrition policies, food safety regulations, standards, and a formal regulatory framework, this scoping review, among the first to comprehensively map Ethiopia's food safety governance, identifies a substantial gap between policy design and practical implementation. Although government and non-governmental organizations have provided training on good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, and hazard analysis and critical control points, these efforts have not produced sustained improvements due to weak enforcement, fragmented institutional coordination, and limited surveillance capacity. The findings underscore the need to shift from policy development to implementation-focused reforms, strengthened accountability, and integrated regulatory action to improve food safety outcomes in Ethiopia and similar low-income settings.