Africa must take a look at its food chain!

Francis Kokutse is a journalist based in Accra and writes for Associated Press (AP), University World News, as well as Science and Development.Net. He was a Staff Writer of African Concord and Africa Economic Digest in London, UK.
July 3, 2023883 views0 comments
It looks like Africa is facing a double whammy when it comes to the food we eat. The poor handling of food from the farmgate is creating a lot of problems and at the same time, the way food is processed is also adding to the headache we face as a people. Thus, the whole food chain is fraught with issues that need to be sorted out.
Experts say the poor handling of popular staples, maize, groundnuts, rice, and cassava, among others, have created health problems and sent many to their graves. This is because the produce is contaminated by aflatoxins, which has been defined by the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) as a naturally occurring toxin produced by certain fungi, most importantly Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus.
A joint study on Technological and Market Interventions for Aflatoxin Control in Ghana, described Aflatoxins as tasteless, odourless, invisible fungi, yet cause a number of serious health problems if consumed in high quantities (either at one time or over a long period of time). What is very critical in the study is the fact that Aflatoxins are connected with many diseases.
Researchers say, aflatoxins are produced because of the dry weather during planting, high moisture during harvest and the inadequate drying and storage of crops. High temperatures and late rains lead to the proliferation of fungi and aflatoxin production. In addition, poor production, harvest, handling, and storage practices, largely due to a lack of knowledge, also contribute to high aflatoxin levels. The authors of the joint study said aflatoxin contamination of key staples can affect the agricultural sector output, generally, and each of the four pillars of food security (availability, access, utilisation, and stability), specifically.
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Given the link between aflatoxin and adverse human health impact, particularly the confirmed linkages to liver cancer, synergistic effects with Hepatitis B, and potential association with stunting and immunosuppression, contaminated food presents a clear food security threat.
The study said: “If aflatoxin-contaminated crops are consumed by humans, aflatoxin poisoning (i.e., aflatoxicosis) can occur. Chronic exposure to even low levels of contamination in crops consumed regularly increases liver cancer risk and can suppress the immune system.”
In addition, aflatoxins can also enter the human diet through livestock products if the livestock are given contaminated feed. High levels can be fatal. Children can also be affected through breast milk or direct consumption of weaning foods.
PACA said aflatoxins are highly toxic to humans and animals. Aflatoxin-producing moulds affect grain and other food crops – maize and groundnuts in particular. “Millions of people living in Africa are exposed to high, unsafe levels of aflatoxins through their diet. Meanwhile, farmers miss out on export opportunities since their products do not meet international food safety standards,” PACA added.
In addition, PACA said, aflatoxins can cause acute liver cirrhosis and are strongly linked to an increased risk of liver cancer. It is estimated that aflatoxins cause between five percent and 30 percent of all liver cancer in the world, with the highest incidence of 40 percent occurring in Africa, PACA added.
In the aflatoxin hotspots of Mozambique, it said, the rate of liver cancer is reported to be up to 60 times higher than that found in the United States of America, adding that, two independent studies have linked aflatoxins to immune suppression, increased susceptibility to diseases such as HIV and malaria, and a possible reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines.
PACA said recent limited studies show an association between aflatoxin exposure and stunted growth in children under five years old, adding that, work by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Togo and Benin has shown that large numbers of children may be affected by aflatoxin-associated stunting. This means that aflatoxins could be contributing to a significant public health burden in developing countries.
Contamination in staples such as maize, sorghum and groundnuts can directly reduce availability of food. Producers of the affected crop may also earn less because of product rejection, reduced market value, or inability to gain access to the higher-value international trade market,” the study added.
The consequence of this is the lowering of farmer income which in turn limits their ability to purchase food for the family and translates into reduced access to food. The study also said, contamination reduces use options for the affected produce through complete rejection or need to put it to other safe uses.
PACA said, aflatoxins contribute to nutritional and economic losses in major commodities including groundnuts, maize, sorghum, cassava, yam chips, cotton seeds, coffee, cocoa, copra, and oils. Besides, it also prevents commodities from meeting international, regional, and local regulations, and standards governing agricultural trade and food safety. Contaminated food is effectively lost as it must be destroyed because alternative uses are not readily available.
Small-scale farmers are hit particularly hard. Since contaminated crops do not meet food safety standards, aflatoxin contamination undermines local purchase programmes by development partners and access to other markets, PACA added. It also hinders investments in seeds, tools, and fertilisers, intended to boost agricultural development and trade. Through contaminated feed, aflatoxin exposure is detrimental to the health of livestock.
This causes a decrease in milk and egg yields, with high doses causing serious illness. Aflatoxins can therefore have devastating economic impacts on livestock and dairy sectors. The joint study said, aflatoxin cannot be destroyed, neutralised, or removed using heat or chlorination, therefore, preventing contamination is the only way to ensure aflatoxin-safe food.
To add to the aflatoxin problem, a new study by the International Institute of Livestock Research Institute and the CGIAR Initiative on One Health, “New Directions for Tackling Food Safety Risks in the Informal Sector of Developing Countries”, has shed light on the dominant role of small-scale processors, grocers, market vendors, and food service operators in informal markets in more than 20 low- and lower-middle-income countries’ food systems and emphasises that a wholesale shift is needed to operationalize safer food in the informal sector. Surely Africa cannot be left out.
The report said, though nutritious, safe food is paramount to people and to social development, billions of people eat daily without knowing if their food is safe and every year hundreds of millions fall sick, and hundreds of thousands of people die from unsafe food.
It is estimated that around six hundred million people worldwide suffer from food-borne diseases, resulting in 480,000 deaths each year, with most cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Food hazards and foodborne diseases cost these countries a combined total of $115 billion each year.
Most of the meat, milk, eggs, and fish produced in developing countries is sold in traditional, domestic markets lacking modern infrastructure and escaping effective food safety regulation and inspection. But these informal markets also provide livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people, generating jobs and income.
In recent decades, ILRI and partners have had substantial success in developing new approaches to improve food safety in these informal markets. These approaches involve working with national and local authorities to create an enabling environment, providing training and appropriate technologies to value chain actors, and most importantly, assuring incentives are in place for better practice by food producers, handlers, and consumers.
The challenge now is to invest in further experimentation of intervention models and sharing of experiences on what works and what does not in the different settings of low- and middle-income countries.
The joint report has proposed a radical reframing of how we look at food safety in low- and middle- income countries as well as who needs to be involved. It also recommends a change in direction and the recognition of the informal sector if we are to tackle the enormous food safety, health and economic burden in developing countries.
Many surveys in low- and middle-income countries have found low levels of food safety knowledge among food handlers, including street food and market. The report said a survey found that, majority of food vendors, restaurant workers and food processor workers in Kenya’s Kiambu about 93 percent never received any training on food and hygiene safety.
Among other things, many market and street vendors as well as small-scale food processors operate in poor environmental conditions. Broadly, this reflects the fact that traditional community markets in many low- and middle-income countries have not been upgraded for decades and lack proper sanitation and waste disposal facilities, or municipal authorities have not taken actions to actively disincentivize or even actively exclude informal food.
Where food handlers do have access to water, this is often non-potable. For example, it was found that the water used by street food vendors in Kisumu County, Kenya, was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. The implication is that, even where food handlers broadly follow good food handling practices, this does not prevent food from being unsafe.