The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have launched two pilot projects in Rwanda aimed at reducing the prevalence of aflatoxins in crops and grains.
The pilot projects seek to increase high-quality maize and prevent contaminated maize in the country.
Agro-processors, it is understood, rely mostly on imports as they struggle to source locally grown, high-quality maize that is not contaminated. According to WFP, contaminated maize is prevalent in the country’s informal market.
Aflatoxin, produced by the fungus Aspergillus, thrives in a variety of grains and is often consumed unknowingly in maize flours or maize-fed animal products such as milk.
High humidity levels coupled with a lack of mechanical, post-harvest practices among smallholder farmers in Rwanda and eastern Africa increases the likelihood of aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin is invisible to the human eye, making it difficult for farmers to prevent, and once present, is untreatable.
Aflatoxin is associated with the suppression of the immune system, childhood malnutrition and is lethal in high doses. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are exposed to aflatoxin’s serious long-term health effects.
‘For the first pilot, IFC is introducing two mobile grain testing facilities which will move between ten major grain trading hubs across Rwanda’, a WFP statement read.
‘Implemented by Vanguard Economics, these “AflaKiosks” will provide free grain testing services which will allow traders and farmers to determine the quality of their grain before selling it, thus providing farmers with access to more markets and better prices for their uncontaminated maize’.
The Aflakiosk pilot, according to the statement, is supported by the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP).
‘Through this collaboration with IFC and WFP and our other partners, we can help unlock the value of Rwanda’s high-quality grain market, generating more income for smallholder farmers and increasing Rwanda’s ability to source needed grains locally’, IFC’s Country Manager for Rwanda, Amena Arif, said.
The second pilot involves testing groundbreaking sorting machinery that can detect and sort aflatoxin-infected maize.
‘The aim of this pilot is to support solving the issue of aflatoxin in maize – both in Rwanda and Africa more broadly’, WFP’s Country Director for Rwanda, Edith Heines, said.
‘The goal is for people to consume less contaminated food and establish the quality link for smallholder farmers – connecting them with premium buyers. This would enhance smallholder farmers’ incomes, livelihoods, and food security’.
Increasing the availability of high-quality grain is expected to help improve market reliability, reduce costly imports, and incentivise greater investments into the agricultural value chain in Rwanda.
Source: WFP
Photo source: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
