Aflatoxins threaten Africa’s food secure dream

H.E Roda Tumusiime with Ugandan President Museveni in Entebbe

DOREEN NAWA, Entebbe
FOOD security exists when all people have access to sufficient amounts of safe, nutritious and affordable food to provide the needed nutrients for their bodies.
But the convergence of many factors contributes to the challenge of achieving food security in Africa and one of these is the aflatoxins contamination in maize and other cereals in sub-Saharan Africa.
Like other continents too, Africa faces many challenges on the food front. The continent is grappling with efforts to feed its increasing population, projected to reach 2 billion by 2050, by the African Union.
The presence of aflatoxins in foods has adversely affected not only the grain milling sector of the economy but also the health of the population and the ability of the continent to trade with the rest of the world.
Aflatoxins are toxic and cancer- causing poisons produced by a certain green mould fungus that naturally occurs in the soil. The poisons have become a serious contaminant of staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa, like maize, cassava, sorghum, yam, rice, groundnuts and cashews.
Perhaps no issue straddles the cereals sector in Africa like the issue of aflatoxins. The problem of aflatoxins in many African diets has had a huge effect but many a time goes unnoticed on the population of Africa until death occurs.
But to mitigate and control the aflatoxins contamination, Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) Program manager Dr Amare Ayalew, based at the African Union Commission since its inception, says PACA has made tremendous achievements in mitigating the impact of aflatoxin contamination on the African continent.
Dr Ayalew says aflatoxin contamination has been a challenge because it can take place at any of the three stages in food production.
“Food contamination of aflatoxins can happen at production, storage and processing. One impressive thing is that Africa is making tremendous progress in addressing this challenge. Laboratories in some pilot countries have been established to detect and control aflatoxin contamination,” Dr Ayalew said.
Among the many other achievements made by PACA since its inception in 2012 is the generation and use of locally relevant evidence or indeed country-led situation analysis and action planning, and policy scoping studies across regional economic communities.
Dr Ayalew says capacity has been built for surveillance of aflatoxin contamination and evidence generation in seven pilot countries. These are Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, The Gambia, Nigeria and Kenya.
The presence of aflatoxins in maize, peanuts and other cereals is extremely critical in a continent where there are many challenges; including low productivity of cereals due to poor agronomic practices, high levels of post-harvest losses, low levels of sophistication in processing and handling of grains, frequent shortages that often lead to famines, and high consumer prices of grain.
The issue of aflatoxins in cereals is a huge impediment to the nutritional and economic well-being of Africa’s population.
For the cereal handling and milling sector of the food industry, the economic and nutritional effects of aflatoxin in grains are huge.
Despite the numerous achievements made, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Rhoda Peace Tumusiime still feels the need for a coordinated approach in addressing health and nutritional hazard.
“We need more awareness innovations and we need national governments on the continent to create awareness to farmers, traders, processors and consumers on this issue; establish and invest in data collection and enforce the regulations, especially on standards of various products,” she said.
Speaking at the 2nd PACA meeting here in Entebbe, Uganda, Ms Tumusiime said aflatoxins tend to affect Africa quite drastically as the entire continent falls within the 40 N and 40 S of the equator, where aflatoxin prevalence is most common.
She noted that in Africa, the problem is caused by various factors such as drought, poor agricultural practices, as well as improper storage and post-harvest handling systems adding that it is further exacerbated due to heavy dietary reliance on staple foods such as maize and groundnuts, which are highly susceptible to aflatoxin.
Recent research indicates that the occurrence of aflatoxins is common in peanuts, tree nuts, maize, and animal feeds while they are occasionally found in milk, cheese, cottonseed, nuts, almonds, figs, spices, and a variety of other foods and feeds. Milk, eggs, and meat products are sometimes contaminated because of the animal consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated feed.
And an agribusiness, trade, commodity marketing and policy expert, Cris Muyunda, says it is critical to note that aflatoxin contamination starts at the farm, and that measures to control the menace should start from planting, harvesting, post-harvest handling, storage and distribution.
Dr Muyunda, who is also Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) NonState Actors Coalition (CNC) deputy chairperson, said while on the farm contamination is the least appreciated by many, further contamination can occur during drying, especially on the soil, and at storage or transport.
“On the farm, aflatoxins contaminate the crop if harvesting is delayed and if the moisture content of the crop exceeds the required for crops stored at the farm after harvest. Bird and rodent attack of the crop at the farm is a great contributor to aflatoxin contamination,” Dr Muyunda said.
And in their recent studies, the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 25 percent of the world’s crop is affected by mycotoxins, the majority of which is aflatoxins, or about 4.5 billion of the current 7 billion population of the world.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, an estimated 26,000 people die annually of liver cancer associated with food stuffs with aflatoxin exposure.
Between June and September 2016, Tanzania recorded 17 deaths resulting from consumption of aflatoxin.
Aflatoxins and other mycotoxins affect trade, consumer safety and the economic health of the population and countries. Aflatoxins exhibit potent carcinogenic effect in susceptible laboratory animals and have acute toxicological effects in humans.
The effect on trade is also enormous. It is estimated that Africa loses US$450 million a year from lost export trade due to aflatoxins.
With all these negative effects of aflatoxin on Africa’s dream of becoming food-secure by 2063, the need to mitigate and control aflatoxins is huge and urgent.
The devastating effects of maize grain contaminated with aflatoxins on the Sub-Saharan households cannot be understated.
Maize and other cereals are the continent’s daily bread. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON OCTOBER 16, 2016. Link: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=82778

Ending child marriage everyone’s responsibility

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
WHEN Mary Katunga (not real name) from Kalinde area about 65 kilometres from Katete town was a 12, she went to start a new life with her uncle.
However, while her cousin attended to school, Mary was made to work as an unpaid maid in her uncle’s home. Mary, now 17, could not refuse the offer from her uncle after losing both her parents to a road traffic accident in Kalinde’s Chiwoko area.
She did not know what she was going into.
Her uncle later forced her to marry an older man, who frequently abused her. She had no say to whatever decision the husband made.
Even though she had wanted to continue with her education, her uncle did not give her that opportunity and not even the husband.
It was not long before she became pregnant with their first child.
When girls give birth at a young age, the risks of suffering painful complications and long-term discomforts are very high.
Having to care for a baby also meant that Mary was unable to continue her education, something which depressed her.
“I saw my cousin leaving for school every day with her books and bag. I was so envious and could not say anything, I was so jealous, too. I wanted to study and get clever, too, and get financially independent one day,” she said.
Mary’s husband was keen to have a large family to help him with the family business. By the age of 15, Mary had two children. Her husband was killed in an incident of violence that happened in Kafumbwe’s area near the Mozambique border.
But widowed at a tender age, Mary feels she missed an opportunity that would have changed her life forever.
Mary is among the many adolescents who dropped out of school for various reasons among them early pregnancy.
In Zambia, especially in rural areas, there are concerns about the high rate of pregnancy-related school dropouts.
This plague undermines poverty-reduction programmes, the route towards gender equality and the very idea of equality of opportunity and education for all in the country.
The practice is so widespread that it does not come as a great surprise to most families in rural areas where teenagers become pregnant and their right to education is undermined.
The case of Mary is one of a thousand girls that have stopped school due to forced marriages and yet charters have been signed, policies have been made but very little progress seems to be taking place.
And headman Kalinde said most parents in rural areas are peasant farmers with very little knowledge on the rights of children, especially education.
The headman said violence against children is still rife in Katete district and other areas.
“Among the common forms of violence here in my area and surrounding villages are child marriage, rape, child labour and neglect particularly of orphaned children,” he said.
The traditional leader noted that traditional practices have caused the violation of children’s rights adding that the practice is worryingly more prevalent among girls.
Headman Kalinde said although laws against child marriage exist, the practice is upheld in part by tradition, poverty and gender inequality.
“Access to education for girls can help prevent child marriage. Girls with higher levels of schooling are less likely to marry as children. Child marriage robs girls of opportunities to thrive. It also puts them at risk of early pregnancy, and effectively ends their education.
As traditional leaders, we have done our best and change is gradual, hoping one day these traditional practices which undermine children’s rights will be curbed,” he said.
Headman Kalinde said there is need for the Government to put up youth recreation centres in the rural areas where young people can be engaged in career building activities, while they are away from school.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), child marriage is defined as the marriage of a boy or girl below 18.
Marriage before the age of 18 is a violation of human rights. Yet, early marriage prevails across Zambia and the worldwide.
Cases of teenage pregnancies are no longer bizarre in both urban and rural communities.
Several girls fall pregnant before 18. Many others get married before they are 16. Zambia, like many other African countries and the world at large, has not been spared from early, forced and child marriages.
The Zambian government, traditional and community leaders, the church and other stakeholders have risen against child marriages, a discrimination that undermines women’s rights, the right to education and equal opportunities.
Zambia’s teenage pregnancy statistics put Zambia as the 3rd highest in Sub-Sahara Africa, with 143 per 1000 between 15 and 19.
School dropouts due to pregnancy increased to 17,600 between 2013 and 2014, according to the latest Demographic Health Survey.
Zambia has the 5th highest adolescent birth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 28 percent of adolescent girls become pregnant before the age of 18.
Moreover, according to the 2010 census of population and housing, the adolescent birth rate in Zambia stands at 146 births per 1000 women aged between 15 and 19 years.
Now, pregnancy-related school dropouts have become a matter of public concern in Zambia.
In 2014, according to statistics at Zambia’s ministry of General Education, at the secondary school level, about 13,200 cases have been recorded; while 4,800 cases have been recorded at the primary school level.
As though this was not enough, usually, girls, who leave school due to pregnancy, do not return to school after childbirth.
In Zambia, the government has enacted a re-entry policy, but it has not been successful because of stigmatization and other students’ prejudice.
A solution to the problem is imperative for the future of Zambian women and the country at large.
Ministry of General Education director open and distance education Bridget Moya said schoolgirls who become pregnant have fewer opportunities to complete their education after childbirth and have fewer opportunities for socioeconomic advancement.
She has since called on adolescent girls especially those in schools not to engage in activities that will affect their progress in school.
“As government we are doing our best to ensure that children remain in school and get a quality education but this is not the task of government alone, pupils and parents and guardians too have a role to play in ensuring that children get the education they need,” she said.
In many Zambian communities, marrying off girls in exchange for livestock and other goods is still not viewed as violence against them, or indeed child abuse.
It’s not easy to change such practices that have been viewed as normal for so many years within a short span of time.
Protecting children from harmful practices is of critical relevance for the realization of children’s rights.
Across communities countrywide, children have been subjected to various forms of harmful practices, some better known and others that may remain undocumented.
Common for most of these practices is the devastating consequences on the child’s life, development, health, education and protection. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON OCTOBER 2, 2016. https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=81316

Credo Nanjuwa: In politics for service

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
IT has taken Credo Nanjuwa almost three decades to actively participate in politics. It has finally paid off because Mr Nanjuwa is now Mumbwa Central Member of Parliament.
Although he never discussed his political ambitions with anyone, he secretly admired the adrenaline that comes with being a politician. He also felt politics was about serving, and serving was his passion.
During his secondary school days at Bwacha in Kabwe, Mr Nanjuwa was being kept by his brother and fondly followed the political journey of the late Christon Tembo, who was the then leader of the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD).
“I never used to talk about politics or share my political views with anybody. Whilst in secondary school, I lived in Kabwe’s Chindwin barracks. I had a belief that military personnel make good leaders so I believed in General Tembo’s ideologies,” he said.
By 2001, Mr Nanjuwa started believing in the ideologies of the Late Anderson Kambela Mazoka, the then United Party for National Development (UNPD) president, and he became a sympathiser.
His passion for UPND continued even after Mazoka’s death as he has been supporting Hakainde Hichilema.
He then secretly started supporting party programmes in his home village in Nanjuwa Village under Chief Muwezwa in Itezhi Tezhi district.
It was in 2006 when he actively took part in campaigns that saw Godfrey Beene win the Itezhi Tezhi seat.
“I publicly showed my political ambitions in 2006 in Itezhi Tezhi in Nyambo ward in our chiefdom when I campaigned for Godfrey Beene until he won the seat under UNPD,” he said.
Looking at the proximity of Mumbwa and Itezhi Tezhi constituencies, Mr Nanjuwa hoped that Mumbwa, too, could be under UNPD but his wishes could not come true.
“In the same year (2006) UPND lost in Mumbwa to the MMD and it was so painful for me because the distance between these two constituencies is nothing. So since then, I decided to shift my attention to Mumbwa and I revived the party structures until UPND became a formidable force in Mumbwa,” he said.
As one of the champions of the birth of UPND in Mumbwa, Mr Nanjuwa continued to play a leading role in events and party issues across the constituency in Mumbwa, as a sponsor for various women empowerment projects, soccer clubs and sometimes traditional events.
All this helped him build UPND in Mumbwa constituency and because of his sense of urgency when attending to people’s needs in Mumbwa, Mr Nanjuwa started getting a push to stand for MP in Mumbwa in 2011.
But because he was not ready, he could not take up the challenge until 2016 when he stood and scooped the seat.
This already challenging task has been made all the more difficult by the various needs that the electorate in the area need solutions to.
But Mr Nanjuwa hopes that his unique experience in handling people’s needs in the party in the past will help him again as he represents the people of Mumbwa in the National Assembly.
“I have seen Mumbwa and checked what is required and that is what prompted me to join politics because I want to serve the people of Mumbwa. The area is a farming area but with lots of challenges. The town, too, needs serious attention,” he said.
“What I will do differently for the people in Mumbwa is to ensure that the town receives a facelift. I have known Mumbwa from childhood but the town still looks the same, Mumbwa has no roads, it only has one road and the road is concentrated. We have no better market in this area and feeder roads, too,” he said.
Another task on his diary is scaling up agribusiness in Mumbwa and making the area the next growth frontier for the country as a whole.
He said if agribusiness is given priority, it could change the face of Mumbwa and offer employment and reduce poverty in the area.
The challenge ahead of Mr Nanjuwa is huge and all eyes of the people of Mumbwa are on him.
Born on September 11, 1970, Mr Nanjuwa went to Munga Primary School in Itezhi Tezhi and did his secondary school in Kabwe at Bwacha Secondary school.
Upon completion, Mr Nanjuwa went to National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), where he did accountancy and business management high level diploma level six.
He then worked for an accounting firm from 1993-1999 when he resigned and started his own business and also ventured into ranching.
Mr Nanjuwa is married to Maureen Himbondo and they have five children.
For him, politics is about service and from the time he showed interest in politics, he says he has learnt a lot.
“Politics can be enormously fun and satisfying. Politics can be thrilling and exciting as well as uplifting. I am into politics to serve the people of Mumbwa and leave a legacy.”  PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON OCTOBER 2, 2016. https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=81323