Tanzania to pilot aflatoxin research

Tanzania is losing over USD 332 million annually from the negative impacts of aflatoxin, a deadly toxin affecting cereal crops like maize, sorghum, rice, wheat.

Tanzania is losing over 332 million U.S. dollars annually from the negative impacts of aflatoxin, a deadly toxin affecting cereal crops like maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, groundnuts and cassava according to researchers.

 

It is reported that parts of Tanzania have been found with 80 percent of maize contaminated with aflatoxin.  The threat is beyond crops as Bendantunguka Tiisekwa, a senior researcher at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) points out; “agricultural products contaminated with aflatoxin also pose a major threat to human and animal health,” 

Janet Edeme, the in charge of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of Africa Union Commission, says Tanzania is one of the six pilot countries where Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) will focus on aflatoxin mitigation efforts. 

 

Other countries of Gambia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda where PACA will work to identify comprehensive interventions to tackle aflatoxin through Country- led Situation Analysis and Action Planning (C-SAAP) for food safety. 

 

“While this effort requires a significant increase in the abundance and quality of food produced, food safety issues resulting from aflatoxin contamination present a number of formidable challenges,” she warns.

 

The pilot project

PACA is supporting pilot countries, including Tanzania, in the refinement of a country-led food safety system and aflatoxin situation analysis and action planning. PACA will work with the country focal point to identify what is needed next and develop a customized Term of References (TOR) to build on existing data and reports.  Tanzania has been creating an empirical evidence bases on existing aflatoxin prevalence, legislation, policy and regultaions, management practices and other existing control mechanisms that can effectively inform interventions.

 

PACA will establish an Africa Aflatoxin Information Management System (AfricaAIMS) that will serve as a “one stop shop” information harbor for aflatoxin information in the health, trade and agriculture sectors. 

 

In partnership with the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (Tanzania), data on the AfricaAIMS will be “home-grown” owned by AU Member States and respective Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The information on the AfricaAIMS will serve policy makers, regulatory bodies, potential investors, technical agencies (health, trade and agriculture), researchers, farmers, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector partners along the value chain and other interested parties. 

 

The principle research purpose of the project is to evaluate aflatoxins and fumonisins dietary exposure levels in young children using biomarkers. 

 

The work is expected to provide essential data of mycotoxin (aflatoxins and fumonisins) exposure and co-exposure levels in Tanzanians to serve as guides to government regulatory policy.

 

PACA is supporting its pilot countries with training and testing supplies to implement AfricaAIMS and begin collecting data.

 

The aflatoxin challenge can be addressed effectively and in a more sustainable and comprehensive fashion if it is mainstreamed in existing frameworks and structures, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans (NAFSIPs). 

 

Other frameworks that can be used for mainstreaming aflatoxin issues include, inter alia, the African Health Strategy, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN), national food safety laws and regulations, and local agricultural extension and community health programmes. In 2014 and 2015, PACA will support its pilot countries’ efforts to mainstream aflatoxins and other food safety challenges into their CAADP NAFSIPs and relevant health and nutrition frameworks.

 

The threat to crops

Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by fungal species during their growth under favorable conditions of temperature and moisture.

The major aflatoxin producing species are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The main cereals affected are maize, sorghum, rice and wheat and other crops like groundnuts and cassava. 

Agricultural products contaminated with Aflatoxins pose a major threat to human and animal health.

 

Aflatoxin causes liver cancer, suppresses the immune system, and retards the growth and development of children. Aflatoxins have been associated with various diseases such as aflatoxicosis, in livestock. Aflatoxin-contaminated feed and food causes a decrease in productivity in humans and animals and is sometimes fatal.

 

Aflatoxin contaminated agricultural products have a relatively low market value and are sometimes destroyed  Aflatoxin contamination is not adequately and appropriately controlled or regulated within the EAC region as most of food stuffs are produced and consumed locally with no or limited testing by the relevant regulatory authorities.

Many countries reject agriculture imports exceeding certain levels of aflatoxin, costing African farmers millions of dollars each year in lost sales.

 

Threat to humans

As for effects on humans, people who inadvertently consume a large quantity of the contaminated food can get very sick, as the toxin can cause potentially fatal problems in the liver and intestines. For example, in 2004 alone, 300 people in Kenya were sickened by aflatoxin and 125 people died.

 

‘Even consuming lower quantities can, over the long term, cause cancer.’

 

There is need for efficient monitoring, surveillance and cost-effective measures for control and prevention of aflatoxins contamination in food and feed products along the value chain in the region.

 

The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) is a collaboration which aims to protect crops, livestock, and people from the effects of aflatoxins. By combating these toxins, PACA will contribute to improving food security, health and trade across the African continent. 

 

The African Union Commission (AUC) provides leadership for PACA, and works with a steering committee representing farmers, consumers, research and technology organizations; healthcare and trade professionals and the private sector. Together, the stakeholders aspire to achieve PACA’s vision: an Africa free from the harmful effects of aflatoxins.

 

If this vision is achieved, millions of Africans will no longer be exposed to high, unsafe levels of aflatoxins. And, with aflatoxin contamination reduced to safe levels, Africa’s food crops are more likely to meet international food safety standards, enabling African countries to massively increase their export potential.

 

What is PACA

The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) is a collaboration which aims to protect crops, livestock, and people from the effects of aflatoxins. By combating these toxins, PACA will contribute to improving food security, health and trade across the African continent. 

 

In working towards its vision, PACA is following a ten-year strategy (2013–2022).