Making food and feed safe from aflatoxins

Scientists in the laboratory testing for aflatoxins in maize and groundnuts. PHOTO BY IITA

More than 50 researchers, policy makers, and representatives of farmers’ groups, national, regional and international organisations gathered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to advance efforts on reducing exposure to aflatoxins.
The focus was on progress made in rolling out Aflasafe, an effective and safe biological control product which reduces the prevalence of aflatoxins in treated maize and groundnut by 80-99 per cent from farm to fork.
“The workshop participants shared on the current status of aflasafe development in various countries and discussed research protocols. The result was a shared understanding of the needs for future developments of biocontrol in Africa,” said Dr Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, a plant pathologist at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Aflatoxins are highly toxic chemicals produced mainly by fungi in several food crops. Aflatoxins cause cancer and liver disease, suppress the body’s immune system, retard the growth of children, and in cases of extreme poisoning, lead to rapid death of both humans and livestock.
Aflatoxins also hamper trade. Globally, about $1.2b in commerce is lost annually due to aflatoxin contamination, with African economies losing $450m each year due to lost trade.
The biological control method for aflatoxin control was developed by US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and modified for Africa by IITA, USDA-ARS, and many national and regional partners.

The bio-control product uses native strains of A. flavus that do not produce aflatoxins but are able to out-compete and displace their aflatoxinproducing relative, thus reducing contamination in crops and throughout the environment.
“Biological control products such as Aflasafe provide farmers with a safe, simple solution that protects their crops on the farm and in storage saving them a long list of tasks to carry out to prevent their crops from being contaminated with aflatoxins,” said Prof Peter Cotty, a research plant pathologist at USDA-ARS, who pioneered the original technology.

Aflatoxin contamination is particularly a major problem in Sub-Saharan Africa where it greatly threatens efforts to achieve food security and reduce poverty in the rural communities.
In East Africa, major fatalities and economic losses have been incurred recently due to aflatoxin contamination.
In Tanzania, recent media reports suggest that nine people died and many others fell ill from suspected aflatoxin poisoning, while in Kenya over 400,000 bags of maize in government stores were reported to be contaminated and not fit for human consumption.

The effectiveness of bio-control has seen products developed and registered for commercial use in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and The Gambia.
Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia are in the process of product development and registration.
The four-day workshop, held 11-14 July, funded by USDA and IITA, follows one held at University of Arizona, USA in 2012.