Embassy of Finland meeting 24.11. 2014

Mycotoxin related research in Kenya-Finnish contribution

Prof. Hannu KorhonenMTT Agrifood Research FinlandBiotechnology and Food ResearchJokioinen, Finland

Recent Kenyan media and ILRI clippings on aflatoxins

• The Star (Kenya): Why aflatoxin may soon be a thing of the past, 18 Nov 2014.

• Aflatoxins in Kenya’s food chain: Overview of what researchers are doing to combat the threat to public health, 6 May 2014

• ‘Bio-control’=effective control of aflatoxins poisoning Kenya’s staple food crops, 13 Feb 2014

• Dairy feed project to reduce aflatoxin contamination in Kenya’s milk, 11 Feb 2014

• Australia-funded research fights aflatoxin contamination in East African foods, 6 Feb 2014

• Aflatoxins: New briefs disclose the threat to people and livestock and what research is doing about it, 30 Mar 2014

• Are aflatoxins contaminating the milk you’re drinking in Kenya? New research to find out, 27 Mar 2014

• Kenya is hotspot for alfatoxin-related deaths–Report, 4 Apr 2014

Mycotoxins-global health threat

• According to FAO up to 25% of the world’s food crops are significantly contaminated with mycotoxins which are produced by certain fungal species in different food chains, e.g. maize, milk and groundnuts.

• Sub-Saharan Africa is especially vulnerable to mycotoxins because of the climate conditions and the climate change may further aggravate the situation.

• About 4,5 billion people are estimated to be exposed chronically to aflatoxins through diet. These people are mainly citizens of the developing countries, as the exposure to mycotoxins is not sufficiently controlled.

Fusarium (fumonisin)

Aspergillus (aflatoxin)

Fusarium and Aspergillus

High precipitation area

Areas of Kenya considered suitable for the growth of Aspergillus and Fusarium- (estimated using historical weather data from weather stations)

Areas prone for mycotoxin formation in maize

• Safe Food- Safe Dairy Project- Phase 2 (2014-2016)

(MTT/ UoN)Building capacity to improve safety in the feed – dairy and maize value chains in respect to health risks associated with mycotoxin contamination

• FoodAfrica Programme (2012- mid 2016)

(MTT /ILRI /IFPRI/ UoN)WP5: Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins in maize and dairy products for consumers in Kenya

Mycotoxin related projects in progress in Kenya funded with Finnish ODA

Safe Food - Safe Dairy Project

Phase 1. Building capacity to Improve safety In the feed – dairy chain, with special focus on health risks associated with biological contaminants (2010-2013)

Phase 2. Building capacity to improve safety in the feed – dairy and

maize value chains in respect to health risks associated with mycotoxin contamination (2014-2016)

Safe Food-Safe Dairy Project -Phase 1

Specific objectives

• To establish a reference laboratory at the University of Nairobi

• To train laboratory support personnel

• To establish baseline information on above contaminants

• To expand awareness about potential health hazards

Safe Food-Safe Dairy Project- Phase 2

Specific objectives

• To improve University of Nairobi laboratory testing services on mycotoxins

• To improve capacity of farmers in the study sites (Makueni and Nandi) to adopt good agricultural practices and to reduce household exposure to aflatoxin and fumonisins

• Building capacity of the EAC partner states to undertake mycotoxinanalysis

FoodAfrica Programme- Basic Data

Duration4,5 years (Jan 2012- June 2016)

Budget

11,8 million €, of which 9,5 million Official Development Aid (ODA) from the Ministry forForeign Affairs of Finland

8 PartnersMTT, IFPRI, ICRAF, ILRI, Bioversity International,University of Helsinki, HAMK and the Ministry forForeign Affairs of Finland

6 African countriesBenin, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Senegaland Uganda

7 Work Packages

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FoodAfrica objective, purpose and approach

• Objective

The overall objective of FoodAfrica is to reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security in Western and Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa by providing new knowledge and tools for the use of decision makers, extension officers and local farmers

• Purpose

Improved capacity of African research and education institutions for

research, education, and information dissemination

• Approach

A new model combining applied research with development co-operation by linking a large number of different actors at research, education, extension and farmer level.

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Food and nutrition

security

Soil management

Livestock breeding

Climate change

Human nutrition Food safety

Extension

and training

Market access

WP1

15 African

countries WP2

Senegal

WP5

Kenya

FoodAfrica- Work packages and focus in programme

countries

WP3

Senegal

WP4

Benin

WP6

Ghana,Uganda

WP2

WP7

Cameroon and other FA

countries

WP 5: Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins for poor milk and maize producers and consumers in Kenya

Objectives

To strengthen capacity at local and national level for assessing and mitigating mycotoxins in milk and maize.

To improve food safety and human and animal health through the reduction of mycotoxin contamination in staple crops and dairy products in Kenya.

To improve market access of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa through improved post-harvest technologies.

Partners– ILRI

– IFPRI

– MTT

– University of Nairobi

– ACDI/VOCA

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FoodAfrica: WP 5

Principal tasks • Integrated health risks and economic assessment of aflatoxin

contamination in the feed- dairy chain (ILRI)

• Investigation of technologies and strategies to reduce aflatoxin risk in the feed-dairy chain (MTT)

• Impact assessment of a package of post-harvest strategies for reducing aflatoxins in maize (IFPRI)

Results dissemination and capacity building are included in each task.

Expected outcomeImproved strategies/methods for reducing risk for mycotoxins (including aflatoxin) contamination in staple crops identified and disseminated to end-users

WP 5. Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxinsfor poor milk and maize producers and consumersin Kenya

Task 2. Risk management in the feed-dairy chain

Partners: MTT, UoN, ILRI

Objectives

Assess the suitability and effectiveness of current biological and non-biological methods in prevention of mycotoxin (aflatoxin) formation and develop novel biological technologies for better controlling the formation of mycotoxins

Develop and test a modeling system for predicting the effect of climatic conditions on mycotoxin contamination in maize production under Kenyan conditions

Co-operation and interactionsbetween Safe Food-Safe Dairy and FoodAfrica

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University of Nairobi is linked to FoodAfrica as a sub-contractor to ILRI

1) Capacity building Human

- two Kenyan graduates and one Finnish graduate who did MSc. in SFSD attached to WP5 as PhD students

Physical

- FoodAfrica has supported the UoN laboratory in Kabete Campus with

equipment for mycotoxin analysis

2 ) Facilitation of field and laboratory work The UoN mycotoxin research laboratory assists in toxin analyses of maize and milk samples

The UoN facilitates field work for WP5 partners on project sites

Focus of today’s meeting(as suggested by Marjaana Pekkola)

Mycotoxin research and outreach in Kenya

• How the results should be integrated into different development partner projects ?

• How to have better coordination between the projects (reactivate the aflatoxin platform?)