New impetus in addressing aflatoxins

TANZANIA : Significant strides will be reached in the fight against aflatoxin in food crops upon completion of modern silos, warehouses and laboratories next year.

Aflatoxins are poisons produced by certain fungi that are found on crops such as maize (corn), peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts.

The main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasitics which are abundant in warm and humid areas.

Aflatoxin is a serious problem with harmful effects on human and animal health and the maize and groundnut trade.

A 2016 aflatoxicosis study in Manyara and Dodoma regions affected 65 people, resulting in 19 deaths. Laboratory tests showed that aflatoxin contamination was as high as 300 parts per billion (ppb) 30 times the acceptable. Tanzania’s aflatoxin-safety standard is 10 ppb for total aflatoxin.

To address the problem, the government through Tanzania Initiatives for Preventing Aflatoxin Contamination (TANIPAC) project is implementing the construction of modern silos, warehouses and laboratories the works started in April this year that will be completed in May next year.

The project is being designed within the context of Tanzania Development Vision 2025 which places a high priority on the agriculture sector.

The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 identifies the three priority goals which are ensuring basic food security, improving income levels and increasing export earnings.

The project will minimise aflatoxin occurrence in the food system earned through an integrated approach in maize and groundnut food chains with the overall impact of improving food safety, food and nutrition security, hence improving the health of communities and agricultural productivity and trade.

Elaborating on the project, the TANIPAC Project Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Mr Kassim Msuya says that the project is being implemented in 18 councils in Tanzania Mainland and two councils in Zanzibar.

He noted that the five-year project that started in 2019 will end in 2024.

Mr Msuya says the main agricultural laboratory which will be a referral laboratory with a five-storey building is being built in the government town at Dodoma.

The laboratory construction is worth 16.7bn/- and will be used for studying biological disease-causing organisms that affect agriculture.

“When the referral laboratory is completed it will enable the testing of pesticides on crops. We have done this because in 2016 there was an explosion of aflatoxin which caused us to send samples to Atlanta, United States and then Germany,” Mr Msuya said adding that the completion of this laboratory means we want bio makers to be made in the country.

The advantages of making biological disease testing will enable farmers and businesses to enhance profit since they can compete in the market nationally and internationally.

This will make sure all the crops produced are tested and fed to the market while all the produce that will enter the strategic market centre at Mtanana, Kongwa District in Dodoma Region is already examined with high security.

“In the future, when we talk about the foreign market, buyers will come to Mtanana or use online instead of the old method where the buyer used to go direct to the farmers. This method causes inconveniences to them especially when it comes check up at the border unfortunately they find aflatoxin.

“Therefore through Mtanana centre buyers will be assured that all the products that will be bought in the market will have a safety guarantee,” says Msuya.

Mr Msuya says the Mtanana market centre which was built by the government will cost almost 18.3bn/- and will be useful for the businesses as well as the Tanzanians where they can buy and sell safety various crops.

The Mtanana market will simplify processing as well as a centre for networking and markets of the crops where they can link with warehouses as well.

“It will be the centre of excellence for all harvest and then enable to link with national and international buyers,” says Msuya.

In terms of warehouses, Mr Msuya says they have built 14 warehouses in the Tanzania mainland in Namtumbo – Ruvuma, Nanyumbu Mtwara, Chemba Dodoma, Gairo-Morogoro, Nzega – Tabora, Babati and Kiteto- Manyara

Others are Kasulu, Kibondo – Kigoma, Buchosa – Mwanza, Bukombe – Geita, Itilima – Simiyu as well as Unguja and Pemba in Zanzibar.

He notes that the cost is around 14bn/- for all 14 warehouses which allows other stakeholders especially the private sector to adapt to projects implemented.

Furthermore, to ensure that the project is well implemented with quality TANIPAC involved the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) to facilitate the monitoring of aflatoxin.

“TBS and ZFDA got one machine each and TARI got investigator machines each in its two centres Ilonga and Naliendele as well as ZARI one investigator machine.

In addition, he says also TANIPAC is in the ongoing project of a biological centre at Kibaha worth 3.8bn/- which is expected to complete by the end of this month.

The Centre will be used to prevent aflatoxin biologically.

He added that TANIPAC will create as well bylaws for the local government to enforce the adoption of the recommended Good Agricultural Practices and technologies (GAP) among the farmers, transporters, processors and other actors along the value chains of maize and groundnuts.

Mr Msuya stresses that the research indicates that the problem of aflatoxin is solved by 80 per cent if actors in the value chains adopt Good Agricultural Practices and technologies.

Moreover, Msuya says to ensure that awareness of aflatoxin people they trained more than 400 youth which enabled them to construct 20 silos in every district during the implementation of the project.

The youth came from all 18 councils in Tanzania Mainland and two from Zanzibar where each council provided 2o youth.

“They were trained on metal silo fabrication technology for three weeks at VETA centres across the country,” says Msuya.

Silos are aimed at helping small farmers keep their crops like maize as the best storage alternative at the household level.

Through SIDO the youth will continue to be in an incubation programme where they will go to entrepreneurship for commercialization of the technology so they will produce the silos depending on the demand of the market.

The price of silos varies depending on the size while a silo of 2 tonnes can be between 500,000/- to one million.

“This is a range of smallholder farmers but they can make silos of up to 20 tons,” says Msuya.

TANIPAC decided to make silos since farmers used unfriendly technology to protect aflatoxin while they keep their crops and other used medical which is dangerous for their health including the users of crops.

Meanwhile, he urges farmers and all Tanzanians to take serious precautions regarding the aflatoxin issues because its impact is very huge, especially on human health.

“Aflatoxin can cause cancer where the impact comes after ten to fifteen years where by the time people get symptoms the poison already attacks the cells.

As surveys conducted in 2012, which covered the entire country showed that more than 90 per cent of samples collected had detectable aflatoxin levels and 31 per cent had aflatoxin levels above the maximum allowable level for maize destined for human consumption (10 microgram/kg) and some samples had levels as high as 163 microgram/kg).

Similar trends were also observed for groundnuts with more than 80 per cent testing positive for aflatoxins and 20 per cent of the samples had aflatoxin levels above the maximum tolerable levels of 10 micrograms/kg.

The first reported case of acute aflatoxin poisoning occurred in 2016 when 65 cases were reported from two districts Kondoa and Chemba where 19 people lost their lives. In addition, aflatoxins have been linked with child stunting.

A report issued by the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology in 2016 shows that Tanzania is losing over 264 million US dollars due to aflatoxins. Aflatoxin contamination is a big problem in Tanzania.