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This study characterized the health risks due to the consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and assessed the consumer awareness level of mycotoxins in households in two north-central Nigerian states during the harvest and storage seasons of 2018. Twenty-six mycotoxins and 121 other microbial and plant metabolites were quantified by LC-MS/MS in 250 samples of cereals, nuts and legumes. Aflatoxins were detected in all food types (cowpea, maize, peanut and sorghum) except in millet. Aflatoxin B1 was the most prevalent mycotoxin in peanut (64%) and rice (57%), while fumonisin B1 occurred most in maize (93%) and beauvericin in sorghum (71%). The total aflatoxin concentration was highest in peanut (max: 8422 µg/kg; mean: 1281 µg/kg) and rice (max: 955 µg/kg; mean: 94 µg/kg), whereas the totals of the B-type fumonisins and citrinin were highest in maize (max: 68,204 µg/kg; mean: 2988 µg/kg) and sorghum (max: 1335 µg/kg; mean: 186 µg/kg), respectively. Citrinin levels also reached 51,195 µg/kg (mean: 2343 µg/kg) in maize. Aflatoxin and citrinin concentrations in maize were significantly (p < 0.05) higher during storage than at harvest. The estimated chronic exposures to aflatoxins, citrinin and fumonisins were high, resulting in as much as 247 new liver cancer cases/year/100,000 population and risks of nephrotoxicity and esophageal cancer, respectively. Children who consumed the foods were the most vulnerable. Mycotoxin co-occurrence was evident, which could increase the health risk of the outcomes. Awareness of mycotoxin issues was generally low among the households.

Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world. Marketing of garri, a major product from cassava, has potential for economic empowerment in Nigeria. The study analyzed the efficiency of garri marketing in Nigeria based on evidence from Kwara State. Data for the study was collected from 120 respondents and analyzed using budgetary and regression techniques. The results showed that most of the respondents were uneducated women who relied on personal savings to finance their agribusiness. Marketing efficiency was 1.12 indicating efficient marketing system which implies that the enterprise is profitable with huge potential for economic empowerment. Factors influencing profitability of garri enterprise (significantly at P ≤ 0.05) included cooperative participation and experience in garri marketing. Major reported marketing constraint included price fluctuation. In order to further improve profitability, hence the potential of garri enterprise for economic empowerment, this paper recommends increasing respondents' access to more formal financial intermediaries, especially the cooperatives.

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