I recently came across an article in the Daily Nation highlighting the shortage of aflatoxin tester kits in Kenya. Noting our history of aflatoxin and aflatoxicosis – illness from aflatoxin – and its link to cancer, I wondered how serious the government was taking this matter.
We appear to have adopted a reactive – testing, detecting and responding – approach. We are relying on millers to detect aflatoxin, remove the contaminated grain from the food chain and ensure the flour produced meets the safety standards set by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).
Congruently, Kebs conducts surveillance and ensures that the food manufacturers are meeting safety standards. Then there is the informal sector – the local markets and flour mills – that would be vulnerable to aflatoxin-contaminated grain given they lack the capacity to test.
Given our climatic and ecological predisposition to aflatoxin, inadequate surveillance and safety enforcement record, and documented cases of aflatoxin-contaminated food present in our food chain, we are exposing the population to the risk of aflatoxicosis.
What is needed is the adoption of a preventative and proactive approach if we are to truly deal with this problem sustainably. The Daily Nation article quoted a senior official at Kebs appealing to the government to promote the use of Aflasafe to fight aflatoxin.
Aflasafe is a brand name for a biocontrol agent that fights the fungus-producing aflatoxin at the farm level. It does so by introducing fungus that lacks the ability to produce aflatoxin on the farm, to outcompete the toxin-producing ones. A very simple mechanism that has been proven to work.
Aflasafe can be made available to farmers and applied during planting alongside fertiliser, particularly in aflatoxin-prone regions. This ensures the toxic fungus is minimised or eliminated from the food chain at the farm level where the infestation begins.
The other potentially useful biological approach is to use seed that is inherently capable of resisting insect damage. Insect damage promotes aflatoxin contamination by mechanically enabling fungus penetration and infestation of grain.
Maize that has been genetically modified to resist insects – called Bt maize – has been demonstrated to reduce levels of aflatoxin.
The writer is a researcher and food safety expert. [email protected]
