The food and agricultural sector play an important role in the South African economy, both towards food security, job creation, growth and export. It is also a sector that is impacting the climate agenda and is impacted by it itself. The sector is also one that uses its fair share of energy and water.

Together with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, the South African Department of Agriculture and the South African National Department of Health, the Danish Embassy started a Strategic Sector Cooperation within Agriculture and Food Control in January 2024. The first phase of the project runs until the end of 2026.

The partners initially agreed to work in five work tracks, namely:

1. Animal Health and Disease Prevention
2. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Antimicrobial Use (AMU) and veterinary medicine
3. Food loss/waste and risk-based food safety control
4. Laboratory Cooperation
5. Capacity building of small-holder farmers

From the beginning of the project focus has been on the first three work tracks, and the laboratory work track and capacity building is expected to start out during 2025/26.

The first phase is well underway

During 2024, important steps has been taken and concrete work has begun in all three active work tracks.

1. Animal Health

The work track has focussed on biosecurity, contingency planning and not least the introduction of a method for rapid risk assessment. 15 veterinarians from Department of Agriculture have received training in the method, that is expected to provide faster and better risk assessment on risk of spread of animal diseases through commodities, and thereby help faster decisions in import matters. The method is currently under implementation, and is expected to be implemented during phase 1 on the project.

The work track has also started working on the salmonella issues, and have had discussions on how to leverage the Danish experience in this field in the South African context and have included representatives from the business side in these discussions as well.

2. Antimicrobial resistance and usage

This work track is bringing together experts from National Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Council, working in a One Health perspective with the AMR issue. The work track is currently occupied with working on delivering inputs to the revised South African strategy on AMR, and has also been delivering input to the revised surveillance plan in Department of Agriculture. Questions on surveillance as well as development and implementation of a National Action Plan on the veterinary side is expected to be some of the issues that also will be in focus during 2025/2026.

The work track has also established connection to ICARS (International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions), who conducted a workshop on stakeholders and interventions together with the representatives from the partners. Possible further collaboration between ICARS and South Africa will also be investigated.

The Danish experience on phasing out growth promoters as well as implementing of more prudent use of antimicrobials, and still delivering high level of animal production, is also to be in focus, including from a business perspective.

3. Food loss/waste and risk-based food safety control

This work track brings together several experts from National Department of Health and Department of Agriculture, and is from the beginning focussed on a risk-based approach to food control, also bridging the fragmented South African food safety control system.

The first focus is on establishing national database of food businesses, in a manner that does not put extra administrative burdens on businesses but will help the national departments have an overview of food businesses across the country, that would be important in terms of risk assessment, crisis management and the work on export matters. During 2024 the partners have established a broad risk characterization of food businesses to be a foundation of which information should be present in the national database.

During the first phase the work track is also expected to focus on principles of risk-based inspection, how to lower food loss and food waste and making use of the Danish experience concerning Trans Fat and the ongoing South African work on that issue.

Contact and further information

For further information on the Danish-South African Food & Agriculture Partnership, please contact the Embassy of Denmark in Pretoria: