The Global Consumer Centre (CONSENT), with financial backing from RIKOLTO under the Good Food for Cities (GF4C) project, conducted a week-long initiative in Mbale City from 8th to 11th April 2025 aimed at promoting sustainable food systems. The activities focused on improving access to safe and nutritious food for all, while equipping key stakeholders with the knowledge and tools necessary to drive positive change in food safety and market management.
Empowering Market Vendors Through Capacity Building
The week commenced with a two-day intensive training session for 37 market vendors specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables at Mbale Central Market. This training was designed to address critical aspects of food safety, including identifying hazards and implementing effective solutions to ensure consumers receive safe food. Additionally, the program covered stall management, waste management, customer care, and financial management, all essential components for fostering better business practices.
The training empowered vendors with practical knowledge and skills to enhance their operations while prioritizing consumer safety. As a result, participants pledged to uphold hygiene and sanitation standards within their marketplaces and committed to delivering safer food to consumers. Their enthusiasm was evident as they expressed appreciation for the initiative and requested further capacity-building sessions to support their business growth. In a strategic move to reinforce these efforts, CONSENT plans to provide modern stalls to the trained vendors during the second quarter of the year.
Strengthening Leadership in Market Management
Following the vendor training, market leaders from all markets across Mbale City were convened for a specialized session focusing on leadership, food safety, and market management. Each market was represented by three core leaders who were equipped with advanced knowledge on food safety, maintaining market order, sanitation, and hygiene, all critical factors in ensuring safe food practices.
During this session, leaders pledged to work diligently toward improving the operational standards of their markets. They emphasized their commitment to guaranteeing the safety of both the business community and consumers through enhanced sanitation and order. Additionally, they called upon CONSENT, its partners, and government authorities to expand food safety training programs to all market vendors citywide and prioritize infrastructural development within marketplaces to support sustainable growth.
Engaging Consumers Through Media Outreach
Recognizing the importance of consumer awareness in achieving sustainable food systems, CONSENT hosted three radio talk shows on IUIU Radio, BCU FM, and Open Gate FM in Mbale City. These broadcasts served as platforms for educating consumers about food safety hazards (physical, chemical, and biological) and addressing practices that compromise food safety along various nodes of the value chain.
Listeners were encouraged to participate by sharing their experiences, with 25 consumers contributing real-life stories during the call-in sessions. A recurring concern raised by participants centered around the heavy use of chemical pesticides by farmers and traders in food production and preservation processes. Consumers voiced their worries about the potential health and environmental risks posed by these practices, underscoring the urgent need for intervention.
Key Takeaways and Future Directions
The week-long activities highlighted critical areas for continued focus: scaling up awareness campaigns on food safety, building capacity among food handlers on optimal practices, and enforcing existing legal frameworks aimed at ensuring safe and nutritious food for all consumers.
CONSENT remains steadfast in its mission to champion consumer protection while advancing food safety standards and promoting better business practices across Uganda and beyond. Through strategic partnerships and community engagement initiatives like those conducted in Mbale City, CONSENT is driving meaningful change toward sustainable food systems that benefit all stakeholders, including vendors, leaders, consumers, and policymakers alike.
