The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has inuagurated the Africa Centre for Food Integrity (AFIC) to tackle food fraud, strengthen consumer protection and boost confidence in African food products.
The Centre will draw on scientific research, technological innovation and strategic partnerships to promote food authenticity, safety and traceability across the continent.
Established under the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (CANS), AFIC will focus on detecting food adulteration, counterfeiting and mislabelling while developing rapid and affordable technologies to assess food quality, safety and origin.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Christine Adu-Yeboah, highlighted the threat food fraud poses to public health, consumer confidence and the reputation of African products on international markets.
She called for African-led solutions tailored to local realities, stressing the importance of bringing scientific innovation closer to where food is produced and processed.
She also underscored the need for collaboration among researchers, industry players, regulatory institutions and international partners.
Prof. Adu-Yeboah said AFIC would provide a platform for advanced research, innovation and policy engagement to address food-integrity challenges and strengthen confidence in African food systems.
“Food integrity is critical to protecting public health, building consumer confidence and safeguarding the reputation of African products.
Through AFIC, we have an opportunity to apply scientific knowledge and innovative technologies to address food fraud in ways that respond to our realities and strengthen the competitiveness of our food systems,” she said.
The Provost of CANS, Prof. Rofela Combey, expressed concern about food fraud, citing the reported restriction of Ghanaian honey to the United Kingdom market as an example of how concerns about product quality and authenticity could undermine market access and confidence in local products.
Prof. Combey observed that food fraud eroded trust and placed businesses that complied with quality standards at a disadvantage. She stressed the need for scientific evidence, effective regulation and sustained collaboration to protect consumers and safeguard the integrity of food products.
She described AFIC as an important platform for research, innovation, capacity building and partnerships aimed at strengthening confidence across the food value chain.
The Centre Lead, Prof. Ernest Teye, said AFIC had been established to investigate food fraud and develop practical, science-based solutions to food-integrity challenges.
He said the Centre would work with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), industry players and other stakeholders to strengthen efforts to detect and combat fraudulent practices.
Prof. Teye explained that AFIC would apply food science and engineering, spectroscopy, computer vision, artificial intelligence and data analytics to develop rapid and affordable methods for assessing food authenticity, quality, safety and origin.
Prof. Teye said the research areas of the Centre included authentication of spices such as ginger, turmeric and pepper; palm oil quality and authenticity; cocoa provenance and traceability; fish and seafood authentication; and the integrity of agricultural inputs, including seeds and fertilisers.
A major focus, he noted, would be to take food analysis beyond conventional laboratories by developing portable technologies that provide reliable information closer to farms, markets, processing facilities and regulatory inspection points.
Prof. Teye said the Centre would also support postgraduate research, professional training and knowledge exchange to build the expertise needed to address food-integrity challenges in Ghana and across Africa.
International food-integrity expert Prof. Chris Elliott, OBE, of the United Kingdom, highlighted Africa's potential to increase its contribution to global food supply.
He stressed the importance of strengthening food integrity to improve the competitiveness of African products, expand access to international markets and unlock opportunities across agricultural value chains.
Citing statistics that Africa accounts for about four per cent of global food supply, Prof. Elliott said the continent had the potential to increase its contribution to more than 25 per cent.
He indicated that achieving this would require stronger food systems, effective quality assurance and greater confidence in the authenticity and safety of African agricultural products.
The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, His Excellency Roey Gilad, welcomed the establishment of AFIC, highlighting its potential to benefit farmers and deepen agricultural cooperation between Ghana and Israel.
He expressed interest in exploring support for UCC through MASHAV, Israel's international development cooperation agency, particularly in capacity building and technical expertise.
He also proposed exploring memoranda of understanding with Israeli universities to strengthen research collaboration and institutional partnerships.
H.E. Gilad noted that such cooperation could create opportunities for knowledge exchange, technical training and the development of solutions to challenges affecting farmers and other actors in the food value chain.
The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana visited the AFIC laboratory, where he witnessed a demonstration of scientific methods and technologies used to detect food fraud.
The demonstration provided an opportunity to observe how the Centre's research and laboratory capabilities could help identify food adulteration and assess food authenticity, supporting efforts to improve quality assurance across the food value chain.
Present at the function were the management of CANS, members of the university community, officials of the Food and Drugs Authority and stakeholders in the sector.
