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The fight to control contamination of key staple foods in Africa by
mycotoxins – poisonous chemicals secreted by naturally occurring fungi
which attack crops in the field and during storage, making them unfit for
human and livestock consumption at high levels of contamination – has been
stepped up in Tanzania with the launch of two new research initiatives.
The first research initiative will document the extent of mycotoxin
contamination in food and the second will develop a comprehensive and
lasting solution to reduce mycotoxins in the country to improve the health
and livelihoods of millions of families in the country and reduce loss of
income from banned trade of contaminated food. ****
Among the key targeted mycotoxins is aflatoxin produced by the fungus
*Aspergillus
flavus*. Dubbed the ‘silent killer’, it has been shown to cause liver
cancer and suppresses the body’s immune system at high levels of
contamination, while the most severe levels of poisoning results in liver
failure and death. Some studies indicate that aflatoxin contamination could
be responsible for critically impairing the growth and development of
children.****
Livestock are also affected through consumption of contaminated feeds which
can lead to reduced growth, yields and even death. Mycotoxins are also
passed on to human beings when they consume infected meat or milk. ****
Studies by the Tanzania Food and Drugs Administration (TFDA) have
documented levels of aflatoxins in maize – the country’s number one staple
food – that are way above the recommended maximum limits. However,
knowledge on the extent of the problem across the country is lacking
hampering awareness and efforts to control it. ****
The first project, a six-month research funded by the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future initiative,
will establish the extent and spread of mycotoxin contamination of maize
and cassava at the homestead and in markets, focusing on Dodoma and
Manyara. ****
The second initiative seeks to develop a safe and natural biocontrol
technology that can effectively reduce aflatoxin contamination of maize and
groundnut in the field and during storage. ****
It is funded by Meridian Institute on behalf of the Partnership for
Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) which was created at the recommendations
of the 7th Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP)
Partnership Platform where the urgent need to control mycotoxin
contamination was emphasized. ****
The two projects were launched at a two-day meeting from 18 – 19 April in
Dar es Salaam organized by the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA) that brought together all the partners to plan for their
implementation. ****
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Martin Kimanya of the Tanzania Food and Drug
Administration (TFDA), one of the project partners, said inadequate pre and
post-harvest management practices among small-holder farmers lead to the
high and unacceptable levels of mycotoxins in maize and contribute greatly
to the high statistics of stunted growth in children under five. ****
“While there has been a great reduction in the percentage of stunted
children from 44% in 1996 to the latest statistics of 35% in 2010 due to
improvements in the health of mothers. We are still far from achieving our
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve stunting by 2015, and one of the
key factors we need to address is to reduce mycotoxins in staple foods” he
said. ****
Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus, *Aspergillus flavus*. Luckily, however
not all strains produce the toxin. The innovative biocontrol solution being
proposed in the project therefore works by first identifying and then
introducing the naturally occurring non-toxic strains ‘the good fungus’
that can out-compete, displace and drastically reduce the population of
their poisonous cousins ‘the bad fungus’. ****
It has been successfully piloted in Nigeria under the name *Aflasafe* where
it has been shown to reduce contamination by up to 99%. Country specific
biocontrol products are also being developed for Senegal, Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Mali, Kenya and Zambia. This project aims at extending the
technology to Tanzania where maize is the number one staple in the country
and very susceptible to aflatoxin. ****
Dr Fen Beed, a plant pathologist with IITA and one of the project team
leaders said the biocontrol technology that introduces the non-toxin
producing fungus to push out the toxic ones is a very economically viable
and environmentally safe way to control aflatoxin contamination if
correctly applied. ****
“It has been researched for 25 years in the USDA-ARS in America and over 15
years by IITA in Nigeria and more recently in Kenya, Senegal and Burkina
Faso,” he said. “It is a technology that uses naturally occurring fungus
found in a country to out compete and displace the toxic producing ones.”***
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The biocontrol project is also being implemented in Ghana, Mali and Nigeria
and will in addition focus on developing biocontrol regional products
targeting other countries in West, East and Southern Africa. ****
The partners in the country for the two projects include the Tanzania
Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Sokoine University
of Agriculture, Tanzania Food and Drug Administration, USDA-ARS, Doreo
Partners and African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). ****
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