Laurian Unnevehr and Delia Grace
Policy and economic challenges: In addition to the challenge of creating market incentives for reducing aflatoxins, there is also an economic challenge in reducing the costs of control. A wide range of control methods exist, including cultivation practices and postharvest handling. There are also limited means for mitigating effects of exposure. None is in wide use in developing countries due to cost, logistics, and lack of incentives (brief 11). However, preliminary estimates in Kenya show that a simple package of low-cost interventions, such as improved drying and storage, could be effective (brief 10), indicating potential for change if markets reward aflatoxin reduction.As both a food safety risk and potential barrier to trade, aflatoxins pose challenges that cut across policy sectors. From a public health perspective, the risk assessment framework is widely embraced as the best method for addressing food safety risks (brief 14). Very few risk analyses have been carried out for aflatoxins in developing countries, and this approach could be more widely applied to help focus efforts based on dietary exposure, “hot spots” where aflatoxin levels are particularly high, use of preventative
approaches, and communication strategies to reach producers and consumers with risk-mitigation messages.From a market perspective, it is clear that differences among countries in aflatoxin standards (and ability to meet standards) tend to reduce international trade or to divert low-quality exports to lower-value markets (brief 12). At the international level, Codex Alimentarius standards provide guidance on appropriate levels of aflatoxins, and these serve as an international reference (brief 13).Codex standards are set through an international process of data gathering and consensus building, but more data are needed from developing countries so that standards can be developed that properly reflect risk conditions in diverse circumstances.
Policy initiatives to address aflatoxin control are underway in PACA, in other regional organizations, and in individual countries brief 15). For example, there are regional approaches to setting standards or to biocontrol registration, which can reduce the costs of individual country action and may promote regional trade.
Promising technologies for aflatoxin control: Because growth of the molds that produce aflatoxins is affected by multiple factors, control is thus complex. Good management practices in crop production, drying, handling, and storage are necessary but not always sufficient for control (brief 18). Resistant
strains can be identified, but resistance is a complex characteristic,
and thus considerable research is required for incorporating resistance along with desirable agronomic characteristics for different production environments (briefs 17 and 18). Thus, while some progress is being made, both host resistance and improved management will require long-term efforts in research
and extension.
Biocontrol offers a preventative measure to reduce the levels of aflatoxins arising during cultivation and thus during storage as well; it consists of the application of non-toxic fungus strains that outcompete the toxic strains (brief 16). This technology is already in widespread use in the United States and is now being adapted to tropical maize and groundnuts. Field trials indicate that this new technology has potential to reduce aflatoxins substantially at their initial source: in farmers’ fields.
Development of new detection and diagnostic tools that are cheaper, more reliable, and more easily used in the field is also underway (brief 19). Such tools would facilitate both public monitoring for aflatoxins as well as the development of commercial markets for improved-quality grain.
Concluding remarks: While there are growing concerns about aflatoxin issues in tropical environments, little is definitively known about their public health risks or about effective market and technology solutions. There is thus a continued need for multidisciplinary and comprehensive research to inform policy and to test potential solutions. Such research can use the tools of risk analysis to better inform
policymakers about the scope of public health risks. Given the nature of this food safety risk, solutions need to be evaluated within the context of the entire supply chain. This includes assessing incidence and exposure, evaluating the costs and benefits of control at different intervention points, and testing how interventions could be adopted by different market actors. Such research could identify where market incentives can support improved food safety and better health outcomes for poor consumers.
Copyright © 2013 International Food Policy Research Institute. ifpri-copyright@cgiar.org
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