A five-day regional program equips frontliners in traditional markets across four countries to protect public health at the source of the food supply.
Khon Kaen, Thailand – 24 April 2026 – Traditional markets are the beating heart of food access across Southeast Asia, supplying millions of households daily with fresh and affordable produce and protein. Yet these same markets remain among the most persistent sources of foodborne illness risk in the region, with challenges rooted in aging infrastructure, inconsistent hygiene practices, and complex supply chains that connect human, animal, and environmental health.
In response, the Mekong Institute (MI) successfully concluded a five-day regional training program, “Mitigating Food Safety Risks in Traditional Markets,” held from 20–24 April 2026 at the MI Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) under the Mekong CREATES project, the program brought together 25 mid-career professionals from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam, representing government agencies, local authorities, academic institutions, the private sector, and civil society organizations.
Building Frontliners’ Capacity to Protect Public Health in Traditional Markets
The program was designed on the understanding that improving food safety requires not only strong governance frameworks, but also practitioners who can translate policy into practical, context-sensitive action. Guided by this principle, the curriculum combined technical instruction with structured field experience to strengthen both analytical and operational skills.
In her opening remarks, Orn-uma Polpanich, Director of the Green Transition and Nexus Solutions Department at MI, emphasized that food safety goes beyond food itself and cannot be addressed in isolation. It must be understood within the broader dynamics of agrifood systems. This requires professionals who can connect technical expertise, community engagement, and institutional accountability, while also sharing knowledge within their organizations and across regional platforms.
Integrating a One Health Approach
The training drew on expertise from regional and international organizations, including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the World Health Organization (WHO), Mae Fah Luang University, and Thailand’s Health Promotion Center 7. Their contributions helped anchor the curriculum in the One Health framework—an integrated approach that recognizes the close links among human health, animal health, and environmental integrity.
Core topics covered over the five days included food safety risk identification and regulatory frameworks, hygiene and sanitation standards, risk-based inspection methodologies, cross-contamination pathways, and governance of food safety in informal market settings. Sessions were structured to move participants from conceptual understanding to applied problem-solving.
A Field Visit That Brought Theory into Practice
A structured field visit to Ban Thum Town Municipality Market in Khon Kaen—a traditional working market with an instructive governance model—gave participants hands-on experience in conducting system assessments using standardized checklists. Participants observed firsthand how municipal authorities improved hygiene and compliance through sustained community engagement.
What set the Ban Thum model apart was its people-centered approach: regular dialogue with vendors, active involvement of community stakeholders, and a culture of trust and sustainability. This offered practical lessons for participants facing similar challenges in their home countries.
A participant from Cambodia shared that seeing how food safety concepts are applied in real market settings helped him better understand how to improve food safety in practice. At the same time, he noted that food safety governance is as much about social relationships as it is about technical standards—a key message of the training program.
Actionable Country Plans
Building on field observations and classroom learning, participants developed eight Market Action Plans tailored to the regulatory environments, resource constraints, and cultural contexts of their respective countries. The plans identified priority risks, such as cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods, inadequate waste disposal, and gaps in vendor hygiene knowledge and practices, while proposing targeted interventions to address them. They also mapped out realistic pathways for implementation within local constraints.
Proposed interventions ranged from targeted vendor training and public awareness campaigns to market assessments and pilot infrastructure improvements. Participants also explored risk-based inspection as a practical tool for improving enforcement. A participant from Myanmar said it was especially useful because it helps focus on the most critical issues, making food safety checks more practical, efficient, and easier to justify in real market conditions.
Regional Exchange as a Catalyst for Change
Beyond technical content, the program was also designed to facilitate substantive peer learning and regional exchange, allowing participants to identify shared challenges and explore collaborative solutions across countries.
A participant from Viet Nam shared an observation that resonated throughout the group:
“Managing food safety in traditional markets means managing risks across human, animal, and environmental dimensions simultaneously. That requires a fundamentally different way of thinking about markets—not as isolated commercial spaces, but as ecosystems.”
This perspective reflects growing international evidence that integrated, cross-sectoral governance approaches are key to achieving sustainable improvements in food safety, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where traditional markets serve a large share of the population.
Demonstrated Impact
Participant assessments showed strong learning outcomes. In the final course evaluation, participants reported a mean confidence score of 4.32 out of 5.0 in their ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired. This result reflects the effectiveness of the program’s blended learning methodology.
A participant from Lao PDR reflected that even modest improvements in daily awareness and hygiene practices can translate into meaningful gains for public health.
This training is one component of the broader Mekong CREATES initiative, which aims to strengthen food safety, climate resilience, and advance agrifood innovation across the Greater Mekong Subregion through capacity building, technical knowledge exchange, field-based learning, actionable planning, and regional cooperation. The food safety training advances this agenda by targeting traditional markets—one of the most vulnerable nodes in regional agrifood systems, where the intersection of public health, economic informality, and food security demands solutions that are technically sound, institutionally grounded, and community-led.
About Mekong CREATES
The Mekong CREATES project, supported by the New Zealand MFAT, aims to strengthen climate resilience, promote green investment, and support sustainable economic development across the Mekong subregion through capacity building, knowledge exchange, and regional cooperation initiatives.
About Mekong Institute
Mekong Institute (MI) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to strengthening regional cooperation and capacity development in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Through training, research, and partnership programs, MI promotes inclusive economic growth, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience across the region.
