Download - Aflatoxins and Extension in Zambia
Aflatoxins and extension in Zambia: How AES can help support women’s strategies for reducing household exposure to aflatoxinsAlyson Young
University of Florida
Introduction• Agricultural extension services play an important role
in disseminating production information to small farmers
• Household production and nutrition benefit from increasing extension providers sensitivity to gender issues
• Women are largely ignored in extension information about aflatoxin control, which has serious consequences for household nutrition and well-being
Overview
• Introduction to aflatoxins and strategies for their control
• Zambian case study illustrating how gender roles and household labor allocation influence women’s strategies for aflatoxin control
• Discussion of the implications for improving extension service provision
What are aflatoxins?
Common fungal toxins produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus
Harmful health effects for humans and animals
Reduces the quality of grain and limits its exportation
Aflatoxin contamination levels
Maximum risk levels of acceptance for total aflatoxincontamination by different countries and organizations.
Country/Organization Maximum risk levels
European Union 4 ppb
United States 20 ppb
Japan 0 ppb
Codex Alimentarius Commission 15 ppb
How crops get contaminated
Pre harvest
• Repeated cultivation of host plants
• Late planting
• Drought
• Termite attack
• Poor field hygiene
• Plant density
• Poor water management
Harvest
• Poor harvesting technique
• Premature harvest
• Late harvest
Post harvest
• Improper drying
• Improper shelling
• Poor curing techniques
• Poor stripping
• Poor grading/sorting
• Poor storage conditions
• Poor transport
How to reduce aflatoxin contamination
Post Harvest Processor Strategies
Sorting before shelling Grading after shelling Avoid using grade-outs
Post Harvest Household Strategies
Proper shelling Proper dryingGrading and
sortingProper storage
Crop Management StrategiesEarly
plantingField
hygieneWater
harvestingSoil
amendmentsHarvest timing
Avoid pod injury
Soil removal
Eastern Province Zambia
*
*
*
Mechanical pod damage
Insect damage
Plant disease
Delays in harvest
Pod damage during harvest
Insect damage during storage
Moisture damage in storage
Wetting during shellingAgree
Disagree
Don't know
0% 50% 100%
Marks on cotyledons…
Bitter taste
White mold inside pod
Underdevelopment of roots
Staple crops…
Animal products…
Processed foods…
Store-bought…
Factors that contribute to risk
for aflatoxins
Foods commonly
contaminated by aflatoxins
Signs of aflatoxin
contamination
Aflatoxin Knowledge
Gender and Groundnut Production
0 50 100
Planting
Weeding
Harvesting
Sales/Marketing
0 50 100
Men control
production (n=10)Women control
production (n=15)
Men’s
labor
Women’s
labor
Gender, groundnuts, and aflatoxins
Control of production
Knowledge about aflatoxins and best practice
Access to services and technology
Time and energy constraints
•Timing of harvest
•Drying techniques
•Processing strategies
Education
Labor
• Knowledge about best practice
• Access to services and technology
• Timing of harvest
• Drying techniques
• Processing strategies
Impact on aflatoxin mitigation
Women’s perceptions of relative risk
Livelihood constraints
Other risks to health and
nutrition
Aflatoxin risk
Implications for extension services• Important to consider the different constraints that men
and women face when organizing and designing trainings
• Men and women may have different perceptions of risk and strategies for dealing with food and nutrition insecurity that should be taken into account during training
• Partnering with development organizations can help agricultural extension providers learn and integrate gender and nutrition into fieldwork
Additional resources• Aflatoxin timeline: http://www.icrisat.org/aflatoxin-timeline/
• Video on managing aflatoxins in groundnuts during drying and storing: https://www.accessagriculture.org/managing-aflatoxins-groundnuts-during-drying-and-storage
• Guide for extension workers on how to reduce aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts and maize: http://www.icrisat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Aflatoxin_mannual.pdf
• Gender and nutrition sensitive training materials and tools for extension: https://ingenaes.illinois.edu/
This presentation was made possible by the generous support of the
American people through the United States Agency for International
Development, USAID. The contents are the responsibility of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the
United States Government.
Thank you.