Africa is one of the regions with high mycotoxin contamination of foods and continues to record high incidences of liver cancers globally. The agricultural sector of most African countries depends largely on climate variables for crop production. Production of mycotoxins is climate-sensitive. Most stakeholders in the food production chain in Africa are not aware of the health and economic effects of consuming contaminated foods. The aim of this review is to evaluate the main factors and their degree of contribution to the high levels of mycotoxins in African foods. Thus, knowledge of the contributions of different factors responsible for high levels of these toxins will be a good starting point for the effective mitigation of mycotoxins in Africa. Google Scholar was used to conduct a systemic search. Six factors were found to be linked to high levels of mycotoxins in African foods, in varying degrees. Climate change remains the main driving factor in the production of mycotoxins. The other factors are partly man-made and can be manipulated to become a more profitable or less climate-sensitive response. Awareness of the existence of these mycotoxins and their economic as well as health consequences remains paramount. The degree of management of these factors regarding mycotoxins varies from one region of the world to another.

Mycotoxin contamination of food has become a global food safety issue mainly as a result of climate change. Mycotoxin estimation is crucial for their management plan as it is difficult to manage what cannot be quantified. Choosing the right analytical technique in mycotoxin quantification is essential in acquiring accurate data as mycotoxins occur in minute concentrations. Good, feasible and sensitive techniques are therefore needed for mycotoxin detection at such minute concentrations. The aims of this work are to compare the efficiency of HPLC and LC-MS/MS techniques for mycotoxin detection as well as assess the diversity of Aspergillus mycotoxins in maize. One hundred and twenty-three maize samples were analyzed using the HPLC and the LC-MS/MS techniques. Both methods had acceptable LOD, LOQ as well as recovery rates. Secondary metabolites such as 3-Nitropropionic acid and sterigmatocystin which are of safety concerns were detected in South African maize among others. Aspergillus species could be producing other unfamiliar metabolites that are uncounted for that might be underestimated contributors of toxicity to humans and animals. The co-occurrence of multiple toxins in food matrices requires multi-analyte detection techniques, therefore both methods will be suitable for monitoring maize quality, as the HPLC is suitable for the detection of major mycotoxin while LC-MS/MS for minor metabolites.