Rural Business
Aflatoxins – Saving African
Food from
Contamination Farmer Vongai Musembwa from Makoni District in Zimbabwe stores her maize grain in a metal silo an effective method in preventing aflatoxin contamination. Photo by Busani Bafana
Vongai Musembwa's eyes light up as she scoops up healthy white grains from a metal bin she uses to store newly harvested maize. Happily, they're free of a naturally occurring poison — a atoxin — that can contaminate crops in the eld, before or aer harvest and during storage. e metal silo protects the grains from a atoxin — produced by certain fungi that grow on food crops like maize, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, cassava and rice. Ms. Musembwa is one of more than 260 smallholder farmers in Makoni District, east of Zimbabwe's capital Harare, who have switched to non-chemical hermetic storage to prevent food from contamination. Musembwa received her metal silo from a local organization, under a multi-partner project seeking to prevent a atoxins contamination of maize grain. e Makoni District farmers are participants in a two-year project worth $1.6 million supported by the Cultivate Africa's Future programme, an initiative funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre and the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research. Under the project, Zimbabwean farmers are given access to metal November - December 2016
silos and thick plastic “superbags” to determine if improved storage can reduce a atoxin contamination in local maize grain. Crops contaminated by a atoxins develop moulds and acquire a dark colour. Livestock and humans can fall sick or die aer eating contaminated food grains. It has also been linked to childhood stunting, liver cancer and immune suppression in adults. Scientists warn that extreme weather is increasing the level of health-damaging toxic chemicals in crops, including staple foods which are key to food, nutrition and trade security in Africa. To protect themselves against extreme weather, plants generate a atoxins, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. “A atoxins are pervasive in African food systems negatively impacting health of women and children, income from agriculture value chains, and food safety and security of nations,” says RanajitBandyopadhyay, a senior plant pathologist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), where he guides research and development activities on crop diseases and poisonous chemicals produced by [40] FARMERS REVIEW AFRICA
certain fungi known as mycotoxins. Bandyopadhyay, said people fall sick, farmers lose income, grains are destroyed, food prices soar, pro tability of animal industries declines, reputation of African exports are tainted and nations become less food secure due to a atoxin contamination. “A atoxin contamination presents a barrier to trade and economic growth and is a serious obstacle to programmes designed to improve nutrition and agricultural production while linking smallholder farmers to markets,” Bandyopadhyay said. “ e extent of contamination varies by seasons, crops and regions and can be anywhere from none to 100% and oen hovers around 25%.” R h o d a P e a c e Tu m u s i i m e , t h e AU C ' s commissioner for rural economy and agriculture s a i d c u r b i n g t h e m e n a c e o f a at ox i n contamination was critical to improving child and maternal nutrition and health as well as achieving Africa's goal to transform its agriculture. Farmers are particularly vulnerable to fungal poisons, according to a 2015 baseline study to reduce maize-based a atoxin contamination www.farmersreviewafrica.com