Aflatoxin awareness and Aflasafe adoption potential of Nigerian smallholder maize farmers

Abstract

Aflatoxin is a potent mycotoxin that can cause cancer and death and is associated with stunted growth. Prevalence of aflatoxin is widespread in Africa negatively impacting health and trade. Aflasafe is a biological control product that can be applied to maize or groundnut fields to reduce aflatoxin contamination. This study examines the levels of aflatoxin and Aflasafe awareness and understanding among smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria. In addition, the factors affecting Aflasafe purchase patterns and sustained usage over multiple growing seasons by farmers were evaluated. In-person surveys of 902 Nigerian smallholder farmers were conducted during October and November of 2016. This work contributes to the existing literature by documenting awareness levels of aflatoxin and use of Aflasafe as a control in Nigeria. Results suggest that the level of awareness of aflatoxin was very high in states where Aflasafe was promoted as an intervention for aflatoxin management. In Kaduna state, the region with the longest intervention, there was a consistent increase in the usage of Aflasafe since its introduction in 2010. Furthermore, farmers who purchase Aflasafe bundled (combined) with other inputs were more likely to persist in using the product. Education was found to significantly and positively impact continued usage of Aflasafe. Continued interventions, promotion and general education of the public are recommended for increased awareness, trial, and adoption of Aflasafe in Nigeria.

“Ground-Truthing” Efficacy of Biological Control for Aflatoxin Mitigation in Farmers’ Fields in Nigeria: From Field Trials to Commercial Usage, a 10-Year Study

“…The strategies include awareness and sensitization campaigns, use of improved agronomic practices, improved pre-harvest practices, use of the aflatoxin biocontrol product, improved harvest and post-harvest practices, sorting of moldy/diseased grains, proper storage and use of hermetic bags, testing, market development, policies, and any other novel, practical, and available management tool for farmers. These holistic interventions have helped to create markets willing to pay for aflatoxin standard-compliant maize (Johnson et al, 2018, 2019) resulting in farmers’ willingness to pay $11-19/ha for biocontrol (Ayedun et al, 2017). Farm-based agricultural enterprises have enabled thousands of farmers to adopt aflatoxin management strategies, centered in biocontrol, to produce and commercialize more than 200,000 tons of aflatoxin-compliant maize demonstrating that sustainability and scaling of the technology is possible.…”

Willingness to pay of Nigerian poultry producers and feed millers for aflatoxin‐safe maize

“…Forty‐two percent of respondents had heard of aflatoxin, which is less than the percentage of poultry farmers who were reportedly aware of aflatoxin in 2005 in Benin (65.9%) and Ghana (81.6%; James et al, ). In an analogous survey administered to Nigerian maize farmers concurrently with this survey, 72% of respondents had heard of aflatoxin (Johnson et al, ). Fewer agribusiness respondents had heard of Aflasafe (12.9%) compared with 67% of maize farmers in a farmer sample that had heard of Aflasafe on the analogous survey (Johnson et al, ).…”

“…In an analogous survey administered to Nigerian maize farmers concurrently with this survey, 72% of respondents had heard of aflatoxin (Johnson et al, ). Fewer agribusiness respondents had heard of Aflasafe (12.9%) compared with 67% of maize farmers in a farmer sample that had heard of Aflasafe on the analogous survey (Johnson et al, ).…”

Monitoring Aspergillus flavus Genotypes in a Multi-Genotype Aflatoxin Biocontrol Product With Quantitative Pyrosequencing

“…For many farmers, the cost of using an atoxigenic strain-based product is less than the cost of performing per field aflatoxin analyses and treatments are invariably associated with reduced aflatoxins (Bandyopadhyay et al, 2016). Low costs of atoxigenic strain-based biocontrol products give small holder farmers a practical alternative to reduce aflatoxin exposure (Ayedun et al, 2017; Johnson et al, 2018, 2019). Proper treatments result in atoxigenic strain active ingredients composing >80% of the crop-associated A. flavus population.…”