How aflatoxin threatens Tanzania's food security?
Tanzania is grappling with rising levels of aflatoxin in harvested grain, with officials citing the uncontrolled use of pesticides and poor storage as the main causes.
At a workshop on post-harvest storage last week, Tanzanian officials admitted to finding high levels of aflatoxin in some harvested maize.
According to Festo Kapela, a senior official at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the anomaly may be due to the unchecked use of farming pesticides or insecticides.
Mr Kapela said that investigations had revealed that several farmers had used pesticides on crops shortly before harvesting.
Tanzania's annual harvest season starts in June, so the revelations mean the country faces the additional challenge of preventing contamination of its stored crops.
Food crop health experts estimate that Tanzanian farmers incur cumulative losses of about $203 million per year due to aflatoxin contamination.
This is because between 20 percent to 40 percent of the crops sold in local markets contain traces of aflatoxin, a natural poison that poses a significant health risk to the population.
These revelations emerged at a food crop workshop in Mbeya, southern Tanzania last week.
The Food Safety Awareness Building workshop was a joint programme between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), aiming to assess aflatoxin contamination in cereals and non-cereal crops, and educate farmers on storage methods.
Aflatoxins are known to pose serious health risks to humans, including cancer, breathing difficulties, reduced fertility in both men and women, and diminished cognitive ability.
Consumption of contaminated maize and groundnuts can lead to immune suppression, malnutrition, liver cancer and death with acute exposure.
An earlier report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) revealed that many families who consume home-grown maize, which is not assessed by any quality regulatory system, are at risk of aflatoxin contamination.
The report also showed that maize and peanut products were highly susceptible to aflatoxin contamination due to the lack of standardised detoxification procedures.
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