Food safety governance in South Africa : a policy network approach

Abstract

This is a study in public policy focusing on food safety governance. Food safety refers to reducing the risk of individuals becoming sick from foodborne illness through managed handling, preparation, and storage of foods. The main aim of food safety is thus to prevent the food from getting contaminated and posing a risk to the consumer. While food safety governance refers to the policy themselves, the institutions and actors involved in forming, interpreting, implementing, and enforcing the food safety policies. Currently, South African food safety governance appears to be fragmented and ineffective. The study follows a case study approach to best understand food safety governance and identifies governance weaknesses in South Africa. This study hypothesis that food safety in South Africa is dominated by a narrow range of actors in government and industry and that a better outcome could be obtained if a broader range of stakeholders were involved. The study adopts a policy networks approach, which was used in conjunction with the Kaleidoscope Model (KM) to better understand the underlying patterns of interactions between stakeholders. The KM identifies important factors influencing the policy cycle which can influence policy processes in each of the cases, network theory added a valuable layer of analysis by uncovering the complex relationships, dependencies, and interactions among these factors. It provided a more nuanced understanding of the policy ecosystem, facilitating better decision-making, strategic interventions, and policy implementation. The KM and the policy network are intriguing, yet it falls short of acknowledging the concept of power, thus, the political economy addresses this concept at the end of the study. A qualitative research approach is adopted, using a mixed data collection methodology that took place in three phases document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups from the non-probability sampling. The third phase is a focus group discussion which aim to triangulate and validate the information collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The focus group discussion was in the form of a stakeholder mapping workshop also aimed at filling in the gaps between the two phases. A thematic and content analysis was employed to respond to the research questions. To do this, audio files were transcribed, validated, and read from a holistic perspective to identify emergent themes. The initial coding framework was developed before and about research questions, transcripts reviews, and memos’ insight. All coding was conducted using ATLAS.ti 9 software. The first case study focuses on the agenda-setting and policy design stages of food safety policy, specifically on the compulsory specification for processed meat products. The second case study focuses on the adoption and implementation of food safety regulations in South Africa, with particular emphasis on the Regulation relating to Hygiene Requirements for Premises and Transportation. The third case study focuses on the implementation of Regulations relating to the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in the South African food industry. This study shows how fragmented the government food safety actors are and the relationship between the government (and its agencies) and consumers. The food safety responsibilities are shared between three different government departments and food safety agencies. The role and responsibilities of these departments and agencies are specified and remain non-integrated. Hence, the power for influencing decisions is distributed across these departments. Food safety stakeholders in South Africa include government (and its agencies), the food industry, civil society, and research institutions each with a unique role to play in the governance of food safety. Amongst these stakeholders, the government, agencies, and the industry operate in a closed policy network and hold more power over other stakeholders to influence decisions related to policy issues. Stakeholders such as civil society and research institutions are hardly invited to the meetings, and their voices and opinions are considered not important when making policy decisions. This triggers several consequences such as limited representation, lack of transparency, industry bias, and neglected public interest all of which hinder the development and implementation of effective regulations. The South African food safety policy network places the government at the top, with various levels of authority and decision-making power cascading down to provincial and local levels. The South African government is the custodian of the main responsibilities of food safety and therefore, takes on a hierarchical approach to decision-making. However, the Department of Health has decentralised itself by establishing enforcement at lower levels of government i.e., at municipal, metro, or provincial levels. To address the shortcomings of a closed range of actors in government and industry, South African food safety governance should consider opening the decision-making process to a wider group of stakeholders that have a real influence on decision-making. Although this research is beneficial, it is important to note that these networks are constantly changing. The government is constantly evolving and so are the stakeholders. As such, it is important to constantly monitor these networks to ensure that the government can develop meaningful collaborations. As a contribution, this is the first comprehensive and organised evaluation conducted on food safety governance in South Africa, identifying areas of weakness that enable the presentation of holistic recommendations for improving the system. This research contributes to identifying both strong and weak relationships within the network. The study links the KM and policy network to ‘identify’ and ‘explain’ the weaknesses in food safety governance. The study investigates policy networks in a real-world context of food safety in South Africa. The research presented in this study adds valuable insights to the growing body of literature on discussions and exchanges related to food safety governance in South Africa and beyond.