AU, gov't launch action plan for Aflatoxin mitigation

Jul 30, 2016

Aflatoxins are “a poison” that forms in foodstuffs, especially grains when they are poorly stored and handled.

PIC: Alex Bambona, the assistant commissioner for food and nutrition security. Photos/ Solomon Kalema

Representatives of the Ethiopia-based African Union Commission were joined on Friday by officials from government and other stakeholders to launch an action plan for the control of aflatoxins.

The launch was done by Her Excellency Rhoda Peace Tumusiime the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Economy at the African Union who expressed the commitment of the AU to this cause.

"Uganda is one of six African countries where we are committing resources and working with governments on aflatoxin control," Tumusiime said.

Tumusiime emphasized that the resources worth USD5m (About Ushs16.8B) will go to all the six countries which were selected by the African Union as starting points under a coordination structure called the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA).

Prof. Archileo Kaaya from the Makerere University College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences who is the Chairperson of the National Technical Working Group on Aflatoxins hinted on the readiness of his team and experts in academia towards this initiative.

"We will work with the government, private sector and the farmers to create awareness and implement the program basing on the research that we carried out," Kaaya said.

 


What are aflatoxins?

According to Alex Bambona the Assistant Commissioner for Food and Nutrition Security in the Agriculture Ministry, aflatoxins are "a poison" that forms in foodstuffs, especially grains when they are poorly stored and handled.

"When grain is stored in conditions of high moisture instead of being dried, they develop moulds and these are ignored by both traders and consumers. When they are consumed by people or livestock, they can cause cancer especially that of the liver," Bambona says.

Bambona was standing in for the Ministry's Permanent Secretary Vicent Rubarema who together with the Cabinet Minister Vincent Sempijja was away at the National Leadership Training Institute in Kyankwanzi in sessions for top government officials convened by the President.

The cause for inter-ministerial action

According to Wezi Chunga from the AU commission who ushered in this discussion at the Imperial Royale Hotel, aflatoxins affect farmers, traders and consumers alike.

This, she said is the reason for the concern of the Agriculture Ministry, Trade Ministry, private sector and academia, all of whom were represented at the meeting.

Expressing her appreciation of the joint effort, Byarugaba from the Agriculture Ministry said that the Ministry has successfully integrated the Action Plan for the mitigation of aflatoxins in the Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan (ASSP) with focus on post-harvest handling and food safety.

"We have found that aflatoxins affect key staple foodstuffs including maize and soya beans as well as fish. Since livestock feeds are made majorly from these products, the aflatoxins also affect the livestock. All this is leading to higher prevalence for cancer,"Byarugaba said.

The experts called for Ugandans to take caution in handling of food at the farm level, market level and storage level, paying keen attention to avoid moulded foodstuffs.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});