Aflatoxin Outlook in Mozambique Prepared for COMESA aflatoxin workshop in Malawi Joao Augusto, Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, Juliet Akello, Joseph Atehnkeng March 11, Lilongwe, Malawi

Outline Background information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique Ongoing research and technology options Gaps to be addressed

Background Information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Late 1970’s – Intake of aflatoxin contaminated food, especially from groundnut, linked to high prevalence of liver cancer in Southern Mozambique Late 1990’s to date – Rejection of groundnut and groundnut products by the EU for exceeding aflatoxin legal limits

Background Information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Notifications of Mozambican groundnut products by EU market: Date Product type Notification type Subject 5/2/2007 food alert aflatoxins (B1 = 12; Tot. = 14.2 µg/kg - ppb) in peanut kernels from Mozambique 3/19/2007 information aflatoxins (B1 = 44.6; Tot. = 57.0 µg/kg - ppb) in groundnuts from Mozambique 6/11/2007 aflatoxins (B1 = 4.8; Tot. = 7.5 µg/kg - ppb) in groundnut kernels from Mozambique via the United Kingdom and via the Netherlands 4/7/2009 border rejection aflatoxins (B1 = 34.5; Tot. = 52.2 / B1 = 3.1; Tot. = 3.6 µg/kg - ppb) in peanuts from Mozambique aflatoxins (B1 = 6.7; Tot. = 18.9 / B1 = 0.9; Tot. = 4.6 / B1 = 1.9; Tot. = 4.4 µg/kg - ppb) in peanuts from Mozambique 12/30/2009 feed aflatoxins (B1 = 120 mg/kg - ppm) in groundnuts for birdseed from Mozambique Source: RASFF portal, 2011

Background Information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Late 1970’s – Intake of aflatoxin contaminated food, especially from groundnut, linked to high prevalence of liver cancer in Southern Mozambique Late 1990’s to date – Rejection of groundnut and groundnut products by the EU for exceeding aflatoxin legal limits Survey in 2013 – identification of aflatoxin hot-spot areas for maize and groundnut in central and northern Mozambique (USAID-Moz grant)

Outline Background information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique Ongoing research and technology options Gaps to be addressed

Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique According to FAO (1994) – There are aflatoxin regulations in Mozambique (but not enforced) Universidade Lurio (UniLurio) in northern Mozambique – Aflatoxin testing and monitoring for different crops (but the lab is not accredited) Madal Ltd in central Mozambique – private company working with some 3,000 groundnut farmers (sorting and aflatoxin testing for the farmers)

Outline Background information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique Ongoing research and technology options Gaps to be addressed

Aflatoxin surveillance in Mozambique Conducted at harvest, May-June, 2013 In Northern and Central regions, but with emphasis to Nacala Corridor Selection criteria for the locations: (a) maize and groundnut in the same area (but sampling will be as far as possible from each sampling point); (b) number of districts in each province; (c) distribution in altitude; (d) cropping systems; and (e) accessibility Materials: “Sampling procedures” for survey, “Sampling questionnaires” for each survey group, colored-printed and laminated mycotoxin factsheets in Portuguese, GPS handsets, etc

Objectives of the surveillance Estimate magnitude of aflatoxins Determine geographic distribution of aflatoxins Facilitate planning

Determine magnitude of aflatoxins

Determine magnitude of aflatoxins

Frequency of aflatoxin negatives (%) Distribution of aflatoxins: by region Crop Region Frequency of aflatoxin negatives (%) Frequency of aflatoxin positives (%) Aflatoxin concentration range (ppb) Groundnut NORTHERN 40.7 (n=110) 59.3 (n=137) 0.0 – 5,673.5 CENTRAL 33.3 (n=12) 66.7 (n=24) 0.0 – 710.7   Maize 47.1 (n=111) 52.9 (n=92) 0.0 – 687.1 40.0 (n=45) 60.0 (n=62) 0.0 – 160.1

Distribution of aflatoxins: by province Crop Province Freq. aflatoxin negatives (%) Freq. aflatoxin positives Aflatoxin concentration range (ppb) Groundnut NIASSA 53.8 (n=14) 46.2 (n=12) 0.0 – 5,673.5 NAMPULA 45.7 (n=91) 54.3 (n=108) 0.0 – 3,121.2 ZAMBEZIA 46.2 (n=6) 53.8 (n=7) 0.0 – 710.7 CABO DELGADO 22.7 (n=5) 77.3 (n=17) 0.0 – 83.4 MANICA 28.6 (n=2) 71.4 (n=5) 0.0 – 9.0 TETE 25.0 (n=4) 75.0 (n=12) 0.0 – 6.0   Maize 58.0 (n=69) 42.0 (n=50) 0.0 – 687.1 52.8 (n=19) 47.2 (n=17) 0.0 – 160.1 26.3 (n=5) 73.7 (n=14) 0.0 – 133.5 56.9 (n=37) 43.1 (n=28) 0.0 – 117.0 34.0 (n=18) 66.0 (n=35) 0.0 – 46.8 33.3 (n=5) 66.7 (n=10) 0.0 – 27.0

Distribution of aflatoxins: by levels % g’dnut samples at harvest (n=283) % maize samples at harvest (n=307) crop Frequency aflatoxin at harvest in Northern region (%)   Frequency aflatoxin at harvest in Central region (%)  4 ppb  20 ppb  20 ppb G’dnut 63.2 (n=156) 75.7 (n=187) 24.3 (n=60) 66.7 (n=24) 94.4 (n=34) 5.6 (n=2) Maize 69.5 (n=141) 96.6 (n=196) 3.4 (n=7) 51.9 (n=54) 91.3 (n=95) 8.7 (n=9)

Awareness raising about aflatoxins

Outline Background information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique Ongoing research and technology options Gaps to be addressed

Identifying, selecting atoxigenic strains for aflatoxin biocontrol More than 400 atoxigenic L-strains of Aspergillus flavus identified from maize and groundnut Most competitive and widely distributed atoxigenic strains, with no toxigenic member in their VCG groups, will be selected Selected 8-12 VCG strains to be formulated in aflasafe-Moz biocontrol products for testing in farmers’ fields in 2014 crop growing season

Outline Background information about aflatoxins in Mozambique Aflatoxin regulations and monitoring in Mozambique Ongoing research and technology options Gaps to be addressed

Gaps to be addressed Infrastructure and human capacity building, polices Equipping and certifying laboratories  Recruiting and training Mozambican technicians and students  Awareness raising  Advocacy, regulations and enforcement

Donors & Partners Dr. Peter Cotty – USDA-FAS at University of Arizona-Tucson