Towards a successful management of aflatoxin contamination in legume and cereal farming systems in northern Nigeria: A case study of the groundnut value chain

Summary

Aflatoxin is reported to be a major challenge for many agricultural commodity value chains including groundnut, with potential negative impacts on nutrition, food safety, human health, and foreign trade. This paper presents multiple pre-emptive management measures in the management of aflatoxins in the groundnut value chain in Nigeria. These measures include: the organization of Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops, development of aptitudes in the detection and quantification of aflatoxin levels, demonstration of integrated crop management (ICM) practices, production of pedagogic materials to support awareness-raising engagement of media organs to sustain awareness on the challenges of aflatoxin contamination, and evaluation and promotion of Aspergillus flavus-resistant groundnut varieties. Alongside these measures that target behavioural corrections, samples of groundnut and groundnut-based products are being collected to establish the prevalence and distribution of aflatoxin contamination in groundnut kernel and groundnut-based products in Northern Nigeria.