Combating Aflatoxin in Malawi's Groundnuts

1-2 October 2014. Berlin, Germany. Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). Expert meeting on Food Safety for Nutrition Security discussing aflatoxin.

Two presentations were made during the expert meeting on aflatoxin control in Malawi:

1. Mischek Soko; MAPAC - Malawi Program for Afllatoxin control_MAPAC
2. Andrew Emmott; Twin & Twin Trading - Value chain control_A groundnut case study

Related PAEPARD blog post:
The Malawi Programme for Aflatoxin Control (MAPAC)

Related:
Published on 21 Jan 2013 Chronic exposure to aflatoxin, found in groundnuts and staples such as maize and rice, affects an estimated 4.5 billion living in developing countries and causes childhood stunting and around a quarter of all liver cancer globally. The toxin, caused by a fungus which grows on food during storage, also has an economic impact on many smallholders who are unable to export crops due to contamination.

 

Aflatoxin exposure from contaminated foods such as groundnuts affects an estimated 4.5 billion people living in developing countries and causes childhood stunting and around a quarter of all liver cancer globally. Twin has a holistic approach to removing the toxin from the diets of smallholder farmers in Malawi and is working to develop safe and profitable uses for contaminated nuts, including pressing for groundnut oil and processing into animal feed. Nuts are predominantly produced by women in Malawi and gender equality is integral to Twin's food safety work.

 

Aflatoxin exposure from contaminated foods such as groundnuts affects an estimated 4.5 billion people living in developing countries and causes childhood stunting and around a quarter of all liver cancer globally. Twin looks at the critical points in smallholder groundnut supply chains to address the causes of aflatoxin contamination and makes a series of recommendations to improve pre and post harvesting practices.