Stemming Aflatoxin pre- and post-harvest waste in the groundnut value chain (GnVC)

in Malawi and Zambiato improve food and nutrition security in

the smallholder farming families.

• Groundnuts(GN)playanintegralroleinthelivelihoodofmajorityofMalawiansandZambians.

• Aflatoxinscompromisedietarysafetyandeconomicvalue

BACKGROUND

Environment(Temp.,humidity/moisture,insectdamage,droughtstress…)

Host(almostanykindoffood)

Fungi

Contamination

Aflatoxin:biosynthesis

Developedworld sub-SaharanAfrica

Iscontrolpossible?

Somecauses:- Poorfieldmanagementpractices- Socialpressure- earlyshelling(insomecountries)- lackofdryingfacilities- Poorincentivestoimprovequality- Nomoisturemeters- nocheapwayofsampling/measuring

pag.6

Dowehavetheluxurytothrowaway?

Groundnut– animportantsourceoffoodand forex

Export - OK

SURVEY [n =140,variousfoodcommodities- HPLC-FLD(Malawi)]

EU legislation

Consumed locally

Matumbaetal2015.FoodControl,51,236-239.

Import- OK

Impactofregulationsonlocalconsumers

High

Low

pag.9

Wellrecognized:Stunting!

NationalSmallholderFarmers'AssociationofMalawi(NASFAM)

• 100,000smallholderfarmersgroupedin43associations.

Multistakeholder approachtotheproblem

INTERVENTION- OBJECTIVES

1) Toassess,validateandfurtherdeveloppromisingpreandpostharvesttechnologies

2) Documentanddisseminatesuccessfullytestedpractices

3) ToadvocateforconducivenationalandregionalpoliciesandregulatoryframeworksforstemmingAflatoxin

SNAPSHOTOFTHERESEARCH

Whatistheimpactofcropresidualonaflatoxin contamination?

• Byhand• Notdeep• What'stheeffect?

Mouldprevalence

Mean difference =19.3±4.4 (M±E),P<0.001

Insectdamage

Mean difference =19.3±4.4 (M±E),P<0.001

Whatinnovationscanaddresscontamination?

APAIREDCOMPARISONOFAFLATOXINCONTAMINATIONANDSEEDGERMINATION

Finding– Mandelacorkpromotesaflatoxin contamination

Finding– Mandelacorkeffectsgermination

Disseminationandfutureplans

• Publishtheresultsinapeerreviewedjournal• Prepareapolicybriefinformedbythefindings• ResultsincludedinClintonFoundationgroundnutmanagementmanualtobeusedbygroundnutexportersinGhana,Zambia,MalawiandZimbabwe

• Nextinterventionstofocusoneffectivetechnologytransfer

Challenges

• Communication:workingremotely(emails)notaseffectiveorasrichasdirectcontactamongpartners

• Timeallocation:mostpartnersdrawnbymanyotheractivities

• Resourceallocation:Fromtheoutsetasymmetryinfundallocationreducedparticipation– thiswaslaterresolved.

Conclusion

• Multistakeholder approachfacilitatesresearchinnovationthroughdiversityinskillsandexpertisetowardsacommongoal.

• Userledprocessfacilitatesincreasedresearchuptake.Researchuserstakealeadindefiningthechallengeandparticipateintheresearchprocesstogenerateevidencetoinformtheproposedsolution.Thereisbuy-infromtheonset.