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

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: DateProduct typeNotification typeSubject 5/2/2007foodalertaflatoxins (B1 = 12; Tot. = 14.2 µg/kg - ppb) in peanut kernels from Mozambique 3/19/2007foodinformationaflatoxins (B1 = 44.6; Tot. = 57.0 µg/kg - ppb) in groundnuts from Mozambique 6/11/2007foodinformationaflatoxins (B1 = 4.8; Tot. = 7.5 µg/kg - ppb) in groundnut kernels from Mozambique via the United Kingdom and via the Netherlands 4/7/2009foodborder rejectionaflatoxins (B1 = 34.5; Tot. = 52.2 / B1 = 3.1; Tot. = 3.6 µg/kg - ppb) in peanuts from Mozambique 4/7/2009foodborder rejectionaflatoxins (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 12/30/2009feedinformationaflatoxins (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 n=283 n=307

Determine magnitude of aflatoxins

Distribution of aflatoxins: by region CropRegion 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 – Maize NORTHERN 47.1 (n=111) 52.9 (n=92) 0.0 – CENTRAL40.0 (n=45) 60.0 (n=62) 0.0 – 160.1

Distribution of aflatoxins: by province CropProvince Freq. aflatoxin negatives (%) Freq. aflatoxin positives (%) Aflatoxin concentration range (ppb) Groundnut NIASSA53.8 (n=14)46.2 (n=12)0.0 – 5,673.5 NAMPULA45.7 (n=91)54.3 (n=108)0.0 – 3,121.2 ZAMBEZIA46.2 (n=6)53.8 (n=7)0.0 – CABO DELGADO22.7 (n=5)77.3 (n=17)0.0 – 83.4 MANICA28.6 (n=2)71.4 (n=5)0.0 – 9.0 TETE25.0 (n=4)75.0 (n=12)0.0 – 6.0 Maize NAMPULA58.0 (n=69)42.0 (n=50)0.0 – ZAMBEZIA52.8 (n=19)47.2 (n=17)0.0 – CABO DELGADO26.3 (n=5)73.7 (n=14)0.0 – NIASSA56.9 (n=37)43.1 (n=28)0.0 – TETE34.0 (n=18)66.0 (n=35)0.0 – 46.8 MANICA33.3 (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  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) Maize69.5 (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