The document summarizes a seminar held by FARA on mycotoxins management in Africa. It discusses the large health and economic impacts of aflatoxins contamination across Sub-Saharan Africa, including an estimated 1 million additional HIV infections annually from fumonisin in maize alone. Aflatoxins are found to suppress immune function and exacerbate diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. They also impact nutrition and pregnancy outcomes. Agricultural technologies, post-harvest processing methods, and policy approaches are recommended to minimize exposure and enforced food quality standards. FARA's role in advocacy and awareness creation on the health and food security implications was discussed.

1. FARA and Mycotoxins Management in
Africa
FARA Seminar Series II
FARA Conference Room, Accra, Ghana
31 August, 2010
Seminar Report
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
PMB CT 173, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana
12 Anmeda Street, Roman Ridge
Tel: +233 302 772823
Fax: +233 302 773676
Website: www.fara-africa.org
August, 2010
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2. Title: FARA and Mycotoxins Management in Africa
Presenter: -. Dr. Jonathan H. Williams, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Coordinator, USAID supported Peanut Collaborative
Research Support Program (CRSP).
Chairperson: Dr. Ramadjita Tabo, the Deputy Executive Director, FARA.
Discussants: Emmanuel Tambi, Walter Alhassan, Emily Nwankwo, Jonas Mugabe, Oluwole
Fatunbi, Gbadebo Odularu, Alain Ange, and Robert Botchway.
Participants: (in addition to the aforementioned discussants) Tetsuji Oya, Gifty Battuta, Aimee
Nyadanu, Muna Osei Bonsu, Daina Amene Anyomi, Akouvi Legbeze, Francis Kpodo, Joelene
Anom, Ama Kesewa Ofori, Hawawu Adamu, Ernestina Assebri, Cynthia Nangsob, Cynthia
Doggu, Priscilla Agyemang, Noah Bakuuro, and Eunice Clark.
Presentations
Mycotoxins and Public Health
 Contaminants of commodities is normally neglected
by DC governments
 Consequences are deferred – health v hunger
J H Williams  Perceived risks (cancers) are not health priorities
relative to HIV, malaria, TB, child survival
UGA/ Peanut CRSP
 Little economic incentive when trade is not involved.
The Scale of the Problem African AF Exposure
 Lost markets  As measured by market samples
 W African Groundnut exports  20-40% maize, rice, peanut, dried cassava would be
 Kenyan maize (2010) = 2.6 million bags at harvest. rejected in US market
 Estimated 1 million HIV infections annually from  As measured by 24 hour biomakers
fumonisin in SSAfrica  20-60% of mothers milk or urine samples are positive.
 Maybe 2.5 million lives from aflatoxin impacts on  As measured by 3 month markers
infectious diseases (world)  70-100% of blood samples are positive.
 Nutritional burden not known
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3. Full role of aflatoxin Aflatoxin and African Health
 Liver cancer – later in life (>45years)  Modulates 43% of the burden of diseases
 Immune suppression  Malaria
 Chronic moderate exposure as in the most exposed half  TB
of African populations  Underweight children
 Both direct and maternal impacts  HIV likely increases progression (next slide)
 Reflected in higher incidence of infectious diseases  Vitamins (A, C, E) deficiencies exacerbated
 More serious nutritional deficiencies  Pregnancy outcomes
 Less efficient food use  Maternal Anaemia
Toxin prone foods related to
Immune Cell Function (Jolly at UAB)
Percentages of CD4+CD25+CD45RO+ regulatory T
diseases
cells  WHO and FAO data were used to examine hypothesis
of immune diseases related to toxin prone food
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consumption
CD4CD25CD45RO cells
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 NB other environmental co-factors
Percentages of
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 Rice with mosquitoes
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 Cassava with tropical disease cluster
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0
High AFB1 Low AFB1 High AFB1 Low AFB1
HIV-infected Healthy controls
Maize and HIV Transmission
R2 (Mod A all data) = 0.48
R2 (Mod B ) = 0.67
R2 Social factors = 0.20
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4. HIV and Mycotoxins Recommended approach
 Model of HIV • Toxin
 Transmission  Use Agricultural technologies to minimize exposure
– Fumonisin#
 Progression  Mycotoxins a FARA priority
 Immunity
– Aflatoxins  Processing opportunities
•*
 Nutrition  Food Additives
 Opportunistic infections •*
 Policy
– Aflatoxin *  Education – creation of market forces but risk of
*confirmed unintended concentration on poor
# proposed  Enforced food quality standards -
 Fortification with entersorbing flow agents
Agricultural Technologies Technologies(continued)
 Resistance  Processing
 Insect resistance for FN (maize)  All Sorting
 Natural and BT routes possible  Fumonisin Milling
 Fungal resistance for FN (maize) and AF  Extraction of fumonisin with water
 Needs marker assisted technologies  Fortification with binding flow agents
 Competitive fungi
 Drying technologies
 Storage in anaerobic conditions
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5. Discussions:
A lively discussion was raised among the following major issues:
What is the food value chain analysis of the impact of aflatoxins if the grains are fed to animals
before the animals are consumed by man?
What are the gender implications of your study? If gender is factored into the analysis, will it
change the findings of the study?
If a counterfactual analysis is carried out in Asia, will this change the findings of the study?
What will be the role of FARA in advocacy and awareness creation on the health and food
security implications of mycotoxins?
Aflatoxins have implications for three major components – public health, food security and
trade. Given the vital role of agriculture in the African economy as it relates to regional and
international market access for agricultural commodities, would you say that aflatoxins are
barriers or catalysts to promoting agricultural trade in Africa?
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