“Aflatoxins constitutes a significant threat to food and economic
security”
By TandongCalistus Jong and MononoYawa,
It undermines poverty eradication in Africa.
It is a major cause of post-harvest loss that further constrains the quantum of
food reaching our markets and households across the continent.
It poses a major public health challenge to
consumers all over the continent and can result in foregone revenues and profit from domestic and
regional commerce and international trade.
What are aflatoxins
Aflatoxin is a poison naturally produced by strains of the fungus Aspergillusflavus and related species.
Although aflatoxin contamination poses a global problem, the impact of the
problem is higher in tropical climatic regions, between 40° North and 40°
South of the equator, including the entire African continent. Aflatoxin
contamination commonly occurs in maize and groundnut and crops of regional
importance in West Africa such as melon seed and yams. According to IITA,
contamination frequency in the tune of 10 – 60% of maize and groundnuts is
encountered.
Human risks with
aflatoxin
Aflatoxin can damage the liver and may lead to liver cancer. Evidence
abounds that aflatoxin ingestion is frequent through contaminated foodstuffs
and is one of the major etiological factors in human hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC) in China and sub-Saharan Africa. About 25% cases of up to 600,000 new HCC
cases reported annually in the world may be attributable to aflatoxin exposure
(Liu and Wu, 2010). Aflatoxin is also associated with stunting in children and
immune-suppression. Studies
carried out in Benin and Togo (Gong et. al., 2002, 2003, 2004), and also the
Gambia (Turner et. al., 2003, 2007) have shown that elevated levels of
aflatoxin in blood are associated with stunting and children being underweight
for their age. Exposure to potentially harmful levels of aflatoxins begins in
the womb and continues through breastfeeding, through baby weaning foods and
beyond. Children under 5 remain particularly vulnerable to aflatoxin exposure
significantly hindering children's growth and development while damaging their
immunity. In several ECOWAS member countries (e.g., Ghana, The Gambia, Benin,
Togo), more than 95% mothers and children have aflatoxin adducts in blood demonstrating
high exposure to aflatoxins. In Sierra Leone, nearly 90% mothers had aflatoxin
in breast milk, showing that not only the mothers but also the babies are at
risk.
A review of aflatoxin contamination
in foods in ECOWAS member states documents levels well above the
internationally recommended maximum limits. For instance, studies found that 40
to 90% groundnut samples in farmers' stores in Mali had unsafe levels of
aflatoxin. The economic impact of aflatoxin extends beyond crop production and
utilization and significantly hampers the profitability of the livestock
industry; for instance 62% of commercial poultry feed sold in Nigerian markets
were found to be unsafe, greatly impacting productivity, increasing mortality
and contaminating the gizzards of chickens commonly consumed as a local
delicacy.
Regulation on Aflatoxin
Because of
the serious food safety risks, human exposure to aflatoxins is limited by
regulations. Regulatory limits for aflatoxins exist in only 15 African
countries and the regulations vary widely among these countries. The maximum
concentrations of aflatoxin permitted in food for humans are less than 20 ppb
in the U.S., and less than 4 ppb in the EU. Contamination therefore presents a
barrier to cross-border trade and economic growth as the presence of excessive
aflatoxin levels causes grain exports to be rejected by importing countries.
For example, Senegal and Nigeria, among the major exporters of groundnut in the
1970s, have seen their market share dwindle to almost a standstill due to
difficulty of meeting aflatoxin regulations. If all countries were to adopt EU
standards on aflatoxins, then global trade would decline by $3 billion (Dohlman,
2008). According to WHO (2011), aflatoxin contamination leads to 64% reduction
in food quality in Africa.
Seeking solutions
The
aflatoxin problem is so complex that it straddles the agriculture and food
security, trade and health sectors. Cognisant of these, in March 2011 at the 7th
CAADP Partnership Platform, the African Union Commission was urged to oversee
the establishment of a Continental SPS Working Group to mainstream
sanitary/phytosanitary matters in the CAADP framework and establish an Africa-led
Partnership for Aflatoxin Control.
Through this call, the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa
(PACA) was established.
PACA aims to provide consistent coordination and coherent leadership to
the continental efforts on aflatoxin control. It aims at supporting adoption of
proven solutions, and identify new ones, that will work to mitigate the impacts
of aflatoxin on food security and agriculture, trade, and health in Africa.
Many actors are involved in developing comprehensive solutions to control
aflatoxin along the value chain, from crop production through processing and
food preparation to consumption. Many measures can be taken to reduce aflatoxin
exposure to local consumers and improve opportunities to sell aflatoxin-safe
crops to markets, but some options need to be supported by appropriate policy
and regulatory actions. It is expected that comprehensive and feasible solutions
being developed for the African context will also be useful for other regions
where aflatoxin is a problem. Combating aflatoxin will also contribute to the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and PACA will look for ways to contribute
to the MDGs and the post 2015 development agenda.
Through the leadership of the African Union
Commission (AUC), and with participation from African and other governments,
Regional Economic Communities, the private sector, farmers’ organizations, and
civil society leaders from across Africa, PACA is establishing a comprehensive,
Africa-wide approach to mitigate the agriculture and food security, trade, and
health impacts of aflatoxin. In this context, regional workshops will further
sensitize key stakeholders about comprehensive solutions to control aflatoxin
that are appropriate to the region based on priorities identified by
stakeholders themselves.
All this was reviewed during a three day
workshop that held in Accra – Ghana last November 2013 jointly organized by African Union, ECOWAS,
Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), FARA, CORAF, USAID, IITA,
and World Bank.
