Smart Supply Chains for Safe Food: Integrating Public Health and Digital Trace ability Systems to Strengthen One Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract:
Food safety remains a persistent challenge in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), where livestock and poultry supply chains are often informal, fragmented, and lack resilient traceability systems. The growing complexity of food supply chains in SSA has intensified concerns about zoonotic disease spill-over, antimicrobial resistance, and food contamination [1]. This paper presents the Smart Veterinary Food Chain Framework (SVFCF), a conceptual model that integrates veterinary public health functions with emerging digital technologies (blockchain, Internet-of-Things sensors, and artificial intelligence analytics) to embed One Health principles across livestock-derived food supply chains. We propose a four-layer architecture linking on-farm animal-health data, real-time environmental monitoring, digital traceability, and decision communication. Drawing on comparative literature and regional implementation experi ences in SSA, we illustrate how this framework can support early disease detection, food-safety transparency, and sustainable agribusiness growth. The SVFCF offers policymakers, public-health authorities, and agribusinesses a replicable pathway to enhance One Health outcomes through technology-enabled supply chain governance. Further empirical validation through pilot studies is recommended.
