Aflatoxin Management Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Aflatoxins are natural poisons produced by some members of the Aspergillus section Flavi group. Their control is critical in sub-Saharan Africa as in other parts of the world because of the health and economic dangers that aflatoxins cause. Aflatoxin management requires a pipeline approach (from production to consumption) that addresses the pre-disposing factors to aflatoxin contamination. These strategies will involve strategies at the pre-harvest, peri-harvest and post-harvest stages to prevent contamination. Post-contamination practices are also relevant in situations where avoidance of contamination is not possible. Strategies that inform producers, handlers, consumers of what aflatoxins are, how they can be prevented from contaminating produce or managed are important for aflatoxin management. Additionally, the engagement public and private sectors, regional bodies and community associations are critical for effective aflatoxin management as they have the capacity to influence behavior changes and modulate practices that predispose food and feed to aflatoxin contamination. Furthermore, the role of research and academic institutions to provide factual information and effectively communicate technical information for aflatoxin management is crucial to avoid misinformation and application of improper practices.

The potential for aflatoxin predictive risk modelling in sub-Saharan Africa: a review

“…Smallholder farmers are risk averse and often value savings (labour, time, and cost) more than profit, so minimal financial investments with short repayment periods are necessary criteria for interventions (Kohl et al, 2017;Memedovic and Shepherd, 2008). Aflatoxin awareness campaigns supported by agro-climatic risk predictions can be distributed through policy briefs, regional reports, media and social media reports, and through public and private extensions services (Falade, 2018). Increased information access based on model results can allow smallholders to be more strategic with investments while focusing on minimisation of risk.…”

“…The Malabo Declaration, adopted by the African Union at the 2014 Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, aims to 'develop mechanisms that enhance Africa's capacity for knowledge and data generation and management to strengthen evidence based planning and implementation' (African Union Commission, 2014), and predictive aflatoxin risk modelling can help contribute to the development of strategic policy. Countries typically build networks of trading relationships based on regulatory limits (Falade, 2018), and for the proposed interventions to be effective it will be necessary to support the harmonisation of policies and regulations across trading regions (Okoth, 2016). Enforcing regulatory standards in African countries is difficult for food security reasons, and an estimate by Sirma et al (2018) showed that around 9 million Kenyans would be deprived of the majority of their food supply if standards for cereals were fully enforced.…”

“…Private sector actors can provide initial introduction and dissemination of model results, aid in marketing and promotion through private extension services, and set up sustainable production and distribution supply chains (Kohl et al, 2017 unequal dissemination of information in the value chain has the potential to increase the power dynamic between farmers and buyers and ultimately hurt market potential. Currently to reduce the risk of not meeting export and other formal market requirements, many aggregators preclude smallholder farmers from their supplier pool (Falade, 2018). This typically excludes smallholders from participating in formal markets with more reliable and better prices, but potentially could be lessened by modelling regions of low risk and enabling aggregators to purchase from smallholders in low-risk regions.…”

“…Across the African continent aflatoxin contamination rates can be especially high (Darwish et al, 2014; The potential for aflatoxin predictive risk modelling in sub-Saharan Africa: a review B. Keller 1* , T. Russo 1 , F. Rembold 2 , Y. Chauhan 3 , P. Battilani 4 , A. Wenndt 5 and M. Connett 1 Mutegi, 2011;Mutiga et al, 2014;Wagacha and Muthomi, 2008), with studies showing 90% of maize samples in East Africa and as high as 99% of samples in regions of West Africa, having evidence of high level of aflatoxins in the time periods assayed (Rodrigues et al, 2011). Many challenges currently exist in addressing SSA aflatoxin contamination (Ayalew et al, 2016;Falade, 2018;Okoth, 2016), including: 1. inadequate crop production, harvesting, drying and storage practices; 2. evolving climate conditions conducive to aflatoxin production; 3. institutional capacity, weak governance, and incompatible regulatory frameworks; 4. limited awareness about aflatoxin and mitigation methods; 5. infrastructural deficits; 6. informal market structures; 7. poor access to modern laboratory equipment for monitoring or research.…”

A Review of the Impact of Mycotoxins on Dairy Cattle Health: Challenges for Food Safety and Dairy Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…This low level of awareness may hinder the implementation of various mitigation strategies. These strategies are divided into two; pre-harvest strategies that are aimed at preventing the fungal contamination in the field and the post-harvest strategies that are applied to the harvested products during harvesting, processing, or storage to prevent contamination and reduce or eliminate the mycotoxin contamination [97,98]. Prevention of contamination is the preferable method, and post-harvest mitigation strategies are, therefore, very important.…”