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| New technology to reduce aflotoxin poisoning |
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| Written by Duncan Mboyah | |
             Crop Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have unveiled a simple and affordable test kit for detecting a naturally occurring aflotoxin causing organism whose poisoning has killed many people in Kenya and other parts of Africa in recent past. The fungus – Aspergillus favus and Aspergillus parasiticus- that widely grows in common food crops like groundnut, maize, sorghum and cassava is also blamed for compromising Africa’s food safety requirements in the international markets.“We have put another strong weapon in the hands of poor farmers to help them fight a problem that was making it particularly hard for African agricultural products to get fair treatment in international markets,” said ICRISAT’s Director General Dr. William Dar. He adds that given the invisibility of the aflotoxin contamination in commodities and the expenses involved in detection, developing countries stand to benefit a great deal from the low cost technology. The new technology, which peasant farmers can afford even in rural settings, is expected to make the problems they have been experiencing history. It going to cut testing of aflotoxins in groundnuts and other grains from US $ 25 to US $1 per sample. This is far much cheaper compared to High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), the testing technology that is only available in South Africa, and which costs US $ 230 per sample. Use of the new technology is taking place in Malawi, before moving to other African countries like Kenya. The technology uses a methodology based on what is known as Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) that is fast and cheap. Using this technique, more than 10 samples can be analyzed per day compared to the HPLC technique. The process of testing starts in the laboratory using groundnuts collected from a store. The samples are processed, with the analysis taking five hours, before the results are out. These findings are then given to the agents who export the commodities to enable them separate the grains that fall below the set international standards. Since the aflatoxin contamination is invisible in grains, detection is the only method of identifying it. In developed countries, this is done routinely by farmers to manage any outbreaks. But in developing countries, tests are expensive and inaccessible to most of the peasant farmers. Those behind the ELISA technology are currently operating in Malawi. Working in collaboration with the National Small Farmer Association of Malawi (NASFAM), the scientists also do post harvest and pre shipment aflotoxin tests as a preventive strategy to reduce the initial contamination. Response to aflatoxins in Malawi is for a reason. The fungus outbreak saw the country’s 1970s unrivaled status as a major groundnut exporter eroded. The new technology has helped it to start a process of recapturing the European market again. The discovery of the new technology has also helped dispel earlier fears that developed country’s new standards for acceptable levels of aflotoxin in groundnuts could cost African countries $ 670 million in lost exports. According to a senior ICRISAT scientist, Dr. Moses Siambi, the technology has resulted in huge success since the country’s groundnuts are currently available on the international trade fair market as well as selling in major supermarkets in the United Kingdom. “This has been achieved largely due to testing of the groundnuts as a monitoring tool to ensure buyers do not get produce with higher aflatoxin concentrations than their market requirements,” he told journalists recently at a laboratory in Lilongwe, Malawi. He said they also train farmers on the need for early planting of groundnuts; appropriate harvesting and drying techniques, use of hand operated shelling equipment, and post shelling storage. “Countries in the region now needs to put in place quality seed supply system to enable farmers get them at their door steps,” observes Siambi, who is also ICRISAT’s country Representative. NASFAM’s Farm Service Director, Mr. Duncan Warren says that since the onset of a project that is funded by the United States International Development (USAID) which provides production and marketing support to farmers, things have been good. “The 1,000 member farmer’s body that is present in 13 of the Malawian 28 districts has successfully used the new aflatoxin detection kit as part of a broader effort in regaining and re-establishing its once lucrative European export market,” he observes. Warren said high value markets have been identified in Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom, adding that plans are at an advanced stage to venture into the Common Market in East and Central Africa (COMESA). “Suitable groundnut varieties are in cultivation and NASFAM staff has received training on all aspects of eradicating aflatoxin from groundnuts produce. The sale of groundnuts to south Africa and UK has risen from US$350 to US $ 750 per ton,” he says. Warren adds that monitoring of aflatoxin is done at the shelling points since groundnuts aflatoxin is mainly found in the skin before they are taken for laboratory testing. “We are now in the process of purchasing another machine to help speed up screening and testing capacity in order to enable us meets export demand,” he says. So far, adds Warren, they have trained a total of 803 farmers and plans are underway to train more farmers through a series of workshops to enlighten them on the dangers of mycotoxins. An upbeat Malawi Chief Groundnut Breeder Mr. Tobias Kapewa, says the new technology has given them more hope. They have developed nine new varieties in addition to the previous four in a move towards revitalizing groundnut production. “We are also currently researching on a disease resistant variety that that can appeal to consumers, producers and processors,” he notes. According to a farmer from Mchinji district in South West Lilongwe Mrs. Maria Charles, the new technology has helped improve her household income to an extent that she is capable of taking her 4 children to school. “What I am getting from my 6 acres groundnut farm is far much better than what I used to get from tobacco,” she says. Maria, a member of NASFAM joined ICRISAT research in 2006, has already harvested 250kgs of groundnut up from 100kgs in 2005. Through the twin trade agreement with the UK, Malawian farmers are this year expected to export 100 tonnes of groundnuts up from 50 tonnes that they sold in 2006. Meanwhile, the chronic incidence of aflatoxin has been found in human breast milk in West Africa, Sudan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. It has also been found in the umbilical cord blood samples in most sub Saharan African countries. Children exposed to aflatoxin may become stunted, underweight and more susceptible to infectious diseases in childhood and later in life. Aflatoxin in maize was blamed for the deaths of over 100 people in eastern part of Kenya in 2004. |
| Kenya Audio Visual Archives Conference |
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The African Woman and Child Feature Service, the Kenya Archival Study Group and the Ford Foundation office in Nairobi, Kenya will hold the Preservation, Conservation and Restoration of Audio Visual Media Conference. The conference will be held at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, from December 3rd – 5th 2008. |
| AWC at the Highway Africa Awards |
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