Fungal contaminants in major food staples in Kenya have negatively impacted food security. The study sought to investigate peanut market characteristics and their association with levels of aflatoxin in peanuts from Western, Nyanza and Nairobi Provinces of Kenya. Data were collected from 1263 vendors in various market outlets using a structured questionnaire, and peanuts and peanut products from each vendor were sampled and analyzed for aflatoxin levels. Thirty seven per cent of the samples exceeded the 10 mg/kg regulatory limit for aflatoxin levels set by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). Raw podded peanuts had the lowest (c 2 ¼ 167.78; P < 0.001) levels of aflatoxin, with 96% having levels of less than 4 mg/kg and only 4% having more than 10 mg/kg. The most aflatoxin-contaminated products were peanut butter and spoilt peanuts, with 69% and 75% respectively, exceeding 10 mg/kg. A large proportion of peanuts in the country (44%) were traded through informal open air markets; 71.8% of products from supermarkets were safe according to KEBS and the EU regulatory limits, while only 52% from informal markets met this threshold (c 2 ¼ 95.13; P < 0.001). Packaging material significantly (c 2 ¼ 73.89; P < 0.001) influenced the amount of aflatoxin in the product, with the majority (68%) of peanut samples that were stored in plastic jars having >10 mg/kg of aflatoxin. Over 70% of all storage structures were poorly ventilated and dusty. Sorting comprised 53% of the various crop protection measures used by traders post-harvest. To reduce aflatoxin exposure to consumers, set standards need to be complemented by strict monitoring systems and education of producers, processors and consumers in crop commodities other than maize, which has received the most attention in Kenya. Alternative uses of contaminated produce need to be explored.

Genetic diversity characterization among Dacryodes edulis accessions is important in developing genetically diverse and superior cultivars. This study assessed the genetic diversity of three D. edulis provenances used in controlled breeding trials at ICRAF-Cameroon based on SSR marker technique. Genomic DNA isolated from individual D. edulis samples were primed with six SSR primers (CB09, LD06, CG11, LB12 CE09 and CC01), amplified through PCR and the products resolved using the ABI 3730 DNA analyzer. Alleles using the Gene Mapper software were called. The polymorphism information content (PIC), gene diversity and heterozygosity estimates were computed by using PowerMarker software while GenAlEx software was employed to estimate gene flow levels, to reveal partitioning of variation across the populations and display the genetic relationships among the populations. DARwin software was used to construct a dendogram that also displayed the genetic relationships among the populations. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) was used to assess the structure of genetic diversity among provenances. All the 6 primer pairs used in this study were polymorphic. Gene diversity values were calculated for all analyzed loci ranged from 0.