Final Report: Safe Food, Fair Food for Cambodia project: Report on food safety risk assessment for informal value chains training conducted in Cambodia, 15 to 17 January 2018

The project aims to improve food safety in informal markets in Cambodia through the application of risk-based approaches. The project is conducted in partnership with the Cambodia National Animal Health and Production Research Institute (NAHPRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Cambodia. The training on 'Food safety risk assessment for informal value chains' was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from January 15-17, 2018. The training was organized by NAHPRI in partnership with ILRI and WHO in Cambodia. Thirty participants, including representatives from Cambodia state agencies, research academia, universities, and international organizations, attended the training. The training was a mix of formal lectures and hands-on practical exercises, focusing mainly on risk assessment. The trainer team consisted of experts in food safety and risk assessment, including Teng Srey, deputy director of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health; Koksrun Aing, chief of the Food Safety Bureau, Department of Drugs and Food, Ministry of Health; Sothyra Tum, director of NAHPRI; Delia Grace, ILRI epidemiologist and veterinarian; Fred Unger, ILRI veterinarian; Hung Nguyen, ILRI senior scientist in food safety and Ecohealth; and Johanna Lindahl, ILRI veterinary epidemiologist. The objectives of the training were to increase knowledge on the basics of hazards, risk assessment, and risk communication; practice qualitative risk assessments of priority hazards; and enable participants to become more familiar with different frameworks for risk assessment and to build national networks for implementation. The training covered principles of risk assessment, application of risk assessment in real life, and putting participants into practice with mathematics and modeling. The training sessions included an introduction to the food safety situation in developing countries and in Cambodia, hazards and risk analysis frameworks, and building a value chain model. Participants learned about risk assessment through case studies of Aflatoxin in milk/maize and Salmonella in pork, and risk management and risk communications. They also worked in groups to develop their own case studies around prioritized hazards and to conduct sensitivity analysis in @Risk and build a risk model. At the end of the training course, participants were given training certificates. The training was a key component of the Safe Food, Fair Food for Cambodia project, aiming to improve food safety in informal markets in Cambodia through the application of risk-based approaches.