Aflatoxin Contamination through the Village Supply Chain – Examples from Two Rural Villages in Ghana

摘要

A range of management practices can be used to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in peanut and other crops. Interventions during production in the field, improved drying techniques, and more effective storage can reduce aflatoxin contamination. In some countries, like the United States, aflatoxin monitoring occurs at the point of sale and greatly reduces the likelihood that aflatoxincontaminated peanut will enter processing steps in the value chain. However, in many areas of peanut production, especially where smallholder farmers are involved, challenges exist at each step of production, drying, and storage with limited capacity to prevent aflatoxin contamination of peanut products. Developing a comprehensive strategy to reduce contamination will be beneficial for both consumers at the household level and for commercial trade that is increasingly aware of food safety issues. Evaluating the impact of each intervention on potential contamination will help prioritize investments for producers, commercial aggregators and development interventions. Research was conducted from 2014-2016 in 5 villages in northern and central Ghana to compare the effectiveness of improved practices (IPs) at production, drying, and storage steps compared with traditional farmer practices (FPs) at each step in reducing aflatoxin contamination in peanut. To address this objective, a factorial arrangement of treatments including 2 levels of production in the field (FP versus the IP that included one additional weeding, use of local soap for aphid/rosette suppression, and calcium), 2 levels of drying (FP drying on the ground versus IP drying on tarpaulins), and 2 levels of storage (FP storing in traditional poly bags versus the IP storing in hermetically-sealed bags). The concentration of aflatoxin was determined at the end of each step. While samples are still being processed for many of the locations, results from 2 villages in central Ghana will be presented.