High aflatoxin content hurts Nigeria’s groundnut export

High Aflatoxin level is responsible for the loss of millions of naira which Nigeria could have made from groundnut export if the country’s aflatoxin level are well below safe levels, say researchers.

According to the United states National Cancer Institute, aflatoxins are a family of toxins produced by certain fungi that are found in agricultural crops such as groundnut, maize, cottonseed and tree nuts.

“Nigeria groundnut export is estimated to lose millions of naira annually in potential revenue due to inability to meet strict international SPS requirements particularly for aflatoxin level,” said Stella Denloye, country officer for Nigeria, Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) during a workshop on innovative platform and market linkages organised by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Lagos recently.

“Aflatoxin levels are well above safe levels in Nigeria staple foods like maize and groundnuts,” Denloye said.

She noted that the highest impact of aflatoxin in Nigeria is on human health, stressing that the unobservable effects of it is making it very difficult to incentivise and inform farmers of the risks associated with aflatoxins.

Recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said that a total of 24 food products were rejected by the European Union (EU) because of standards. Groundnut was among the food products rejected because of the high presence of aflatoxin.

Ever since the neglect, groundnut production fell from the country’s export list and as such small holder farmers, too, began to suffer economic hardship while the diseases affecting the crop aggravated over the years, occasioned by severe drought, experts say.

“The biggest challenge confronting groundnut farmers is low yielding seed varieties and issue of aflatoxin in groundnut, “said Hakeem Ayinde Ajeigbe, country representative, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in an email response to questions.

“We need to continue to invest in researches, extension, and seed systems as these activities will help increase production and address aflatoxin issues to allow us access the export market,” Ajeigbe said.

Poor storage facilities and the country’s geographical location are some of the factors that cause aflatoxin contamination in crops, according to researchers.

“Location is an important factor that predisposes crops to aflatoxin contamination. Nigeria is within the region of high perennial risk,” said Titilayo Falade, researcher, IITA.

Abiodun obaleye, research supervisor, IITA said, “Aflatoxin have harmful effects on humans and animals. They are very cancerous and suppress human immune system. The African environment favours the development of the poisonous compound. It is found all across Africa.”

“We now have a technology that can be used to prevent the fungi by shifting the population structure for the fungi community affecting the crops in favour of the ones that do not produce aflatoxin,” Obaleye.

He stated that Aflasafe is for mitigation of the toxins in crop.

According to some researchers, farmers’ education on the dangers of the fungi, public awareness, appropriate infrastructural facilities and aflasafe intervention will help prevent and control the fungi contamination.

“For solutions to aflatoxin we must change awareness to exposure and consumption. Enhance capacity for management through: infrastructure, regulations, assessment, monitoring and enforcement systems and encourage local technology interventions for storage, drying. Encourage production and ready markets for aflatoxin reduced commodities,” said Denloye who was earlier quoted.

Groundnut which use to be one of Nigeria’s major cash crops in the 80’s was not among the top five agricultural commodities exported in Q1, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show.

 

Josephine Okojie