Comesa aflatoxin regional conference. Lilongwe, 11 -13 March 2014.

1. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Ranajit Bandyopadhyay
IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria
Technology Solutions
and Opportunities
available for Abating
the Aflatoxin
Challenge
Regional Workshop on the Aflatoxin Challenges in Eastern and Southern
Africa: Improving Health, Trade & Food Security through Regional
Efforts to Mitigate Aflatoxin Contamination, Lilongwe, 11-13 March, 2014

2. • Highly toxic metabolite
produced by the ubiquitous
Aspergillus flavus fungus
• The fungus resides in soil and
crop debris, infects crops and
produces the toxin in the field
and in stores
Aflatoxin Facts
• Contamination possible
without visible signs of
the fungus
• Fungus carried
from field to store
• Favoured by high night
temperature and dry
conditions
• Drought stress
predisposes plants to
aflatoxin

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Aflatoxin Contamination Occurs in
Two Phases
Phase I: Before Crop Maturity
 Developing crops become infected.
 Associated with crop damage (insect, bird, stress).
 Favored by high temperature (night) and dry conditions.
Phase II: After Crop Maturity
 Aflatoxin increases in mature crop.
 Seed is vulnerable until consumed.
 Rain on the mature crop increases contamination.
 Associated with high humidity in the field & store, insect
damage, and improper crop storage or transportation.

4. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Pre-Harvest Problem
Aflatoxin
(ppb)ppb)
Peanut (n = 188) Maize (n = 241)
Distribution (% samples)
> 4 54 70
> 10 41 52
> 20 29 24
Descriptive statistics (ppb)
Minimum < LOD < LOD
Maximum 3487 838
Mean 111 33
LOD = Limit of Detection; 1 ppb
Aflatoxin in Groundnut and Maize at Harvest
Increases in store

5. Kenya (CDC and Kenyan Ministry of Health 2004)
District Samples
% samples with aflatoxin levels (ppb)
<20 21-99 100-1,000 >1,000
Makueni 91 35 13 40 12
Kitui 73 38 21 32 10
Machakos 102 49 25 23 3
Thika 76 66 17 13 4
Total 342 47% 19% 27% 7%
Tanzania (IITA & partners, unpublished, 2013)
Aflatoxins in Markets
Crops Samples
% samples with aflatoxin levels (ppb)
<10 11-100 101-1,000 >1,000
Groundnut 180 89 11 0 0
Maize 287 71 15 10 4
Cassava 405 86 10 4 0.2

6. Aflatoxin and Poultry (Broilers)
Aflatoxin
levels in
feeds in
Nigeria
Aflatoxin level (ppb) Samples (%)
<20 (safe) 38
>20 to 100 (up to 5x) 14
>100 to 500 (up to 25x) 41
>500 to 1,000 (up to 100x) 7
AF-free diet 500 ppb AF diet
AF-free
diet
500 ppb AF diet
~40% reduction in live
weight (8 weeks)

7. Aflatoxin
Intervention
Medical
Agriculture
Surveillance
Enterosorption
Pre-harvest
Food processing
e.g. Novasil clay
Agriculture & Medical Prevention of Aflatoxin-
related Food Security and Health Effects
(Adapted from Wild and Hall, Mutation Res., 2000)
Awareness
Regulation
Provision of safe food
Early diagnosis
Post-harvest

8. Pre- and post-harvest Interventions for
Aflatoxins
• Pre-harvest
– Resistant cultivars, if available
– Biological control, e.g., aflasafe
– Irrigation, water conservation good crop management
• Post-harvest
– Sorting
– Insect control
– Improved drying and storage
– Aflatoxin testing
– Food / feed processing / detoxification methods / binders
– Alternative uses including blending

9. www.iita.orgwww.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Integrated Management
The elements are:
• Technology
• Awareness – entire range of value chain participants
• Advocacy – regional, national, investors
• Training – farmers, transporters, traders, regulators,
consumers
• Policies – standards, harmonization, trade
• Institutions – regulators, markets, testing, private sector
• Trade / Markets – food/feed processors, poultry/fish industry
• Public good – home consumption; urban and rural markets;
government procurement, HGSF

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Products ready for registration
• Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina
Faso and Kenya
Products under field testing
• Zambia
Products under development
• Ghana, Tanzania and
Mozambique
Products development to start
• Mali, The Gambia, Uganda,
Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi,
Malawi and South Sudan
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Biocontrol
Product: Aflasafe (Mixture
of 4 native atoxigenic strains)

11. www.iita.org
Farmers treating maize and groundnut fields with Aflasafe in Nigeria
MAIZE: Aflatoxin reduction (%)
Stage 2009 2010 2011 2012
Harvest 82 94 83 93
Storage 92 93 x x
PEANUT: Aflatoxin reduction (%)
Stage 2009 2010 2011
Harvest - 95 82
Storage 100 80 x
Results from 482
on-farm trials
71% and 52% carry-over of
inoculum 1 & 2 years after
application

12. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Kenya: Efficacy of aflasafe KE01™
Area (fields) Control Treated
Reduction
(%)
Hola (n = 20) 885 20 98
Bura (n = 16) 105 7 93
Makueni (n = 15) 85 1 99
Aflatoxin (ppb)
*All means of aflasafe treated and control pairs significantly different; Student’s t-test (P<0.05)
38
20
0
88
60
33
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Treated
Control
Fields (%) above
10 ppb in 3 areas
Fields(%)
Deadly (3,700 ppb & 2,270 ppb)
533 ppb
Hola

13. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Aflasafe Plan & Plant
Capacity:
5 tons/hour

14. Biocontrol x Resistance
Experimental
variety
At harvest
Control Aflasafe
RSYN2-Y 19.6 1.7
RSYN3-W 6.9 1.8
SYN3-Y 18.4 1.7
TZB-SR (susc.) 57.5 4.7
After poor storage
Control Aflasafe
462 44
627 38
387 19
1152 163
Combining management tactics increases extent of aflatoxin reduction
Aflatoxin (ppb) in Low-Aflatoxin Maize Lines With
and Without Aflasafe Treatment
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium

15. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Farmer Training

16. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Advocacy and Policies
• National and regionally harmonized
standards in foods and feeds
• Intra-regional trade of safe food
• Enhanced capacity of regulators
• Alternative uses
• Disposal of contaminated material
• Regionally harmonized protocols for
biopesticides registration
• Inclusion of aflatoxin in nutrition and
health policies
• Aflatoxin alert system in Africa
• Critical role of PACA and RECs

17. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Markets
Doreo Partner analysis
Poultry industry
Export-oriented aggregators
Food processors
Large commercial farmers
Smallholder farmers
Market based
• Poultry feed
• Premium food
market
• Export
AgResults (Incentive-
cum-market based)
marketdemandfor
Aflasafe • 60% maize consumed by farmers
• 40% sold in the market

18. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Challenges
• Aflatoxin is a hidden problem
• Chemical analysis required
• Awareness is low
• Long incubation for expression of
health impacts
• Regulations either non-existent or
poorly enforced
• Market does not usually discriminate
• Demonstration of product value
• Lack of biopesticide manufacturers
The value of a
technology on the
shelf is as much
as the cost of the
space it occupies
on the shelf.
Must translate
knowledge into
usable products
and practices to
benefit people
But……

19. Pilot Implementation
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
• Value chain-centric: Farmers’ and
other value chain participants’
interest as the foundation of the
action
• Public sector intervention with
health perspectives for smallholders
• Action-oriented: Using practical
methods to actively solve problems,
not just talking about ideas, plans,
or theories
• Innovation platform: problem
solving by participants working
regularly together to address
common issues and challenges.

20. Summary
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
• Impact of aflatoxins have
several development
dimensions:
– post-harvest losses, nutrition,
health, crops, livestock, fish,
trade, markets, policies,
institutions and politics
• Reduction of aflatoxin will
improve human health,
increase farm income,
improve profitability of animal
industries, increase regional
and international trade, and
reputation of African products
in global markets

21. Ibadan
IITA
Tucson
USDA/ARS
IITA, USDA, AATF & Doreo have Teamed up to Bring
Aflatoxin Prevention to Africa
Made Possible by Many National Partners in Ministries, Industry, and on the Farm
Nigeria
For more information about aflatoxin biocontrol for Africa, check out: www.aflasafe.com