Assessment of Aflatoxin Awareness by Players in Groundnut Value Chain: The Case of Dora in Mutare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Aflatoxin is a toxin mainly produced by the fungi Aspergilus flavus. It is a serious problem in agricultural trade and health issues. However documentation and awareness of its effects is not widely evident. Without any awareness and knowledge of aflatoxin, it would be difficult to mitigate against it and its economic and health impacts. Based on evidence in literature, ‘molds' and ‘toxin' were used in the present as a surrogates for aflatoxin since chances of its presence are higher compared to the clean healthy looking peanut. The study aimed at assessing awareness and prevalence of aflatoxin along the groundnuts value chain It further assessed the mitigation strategies used by stakeholders. The study was preliminary and thus did not do any laboratory testing. Questionnaires were personally administered to groundnut value chain actors. These included farmers in Wards 5 and 35 of Dora in Mutare, vendors, representatives in processing companies and final consumers. A total of 54 respondents were included in the sample. This was achieved through a multistage sampling approach. The study area was purposively selected due to its dominance in groundnuts production and proximity to Mutare City which offered a ready market. Stratified random sampling was then used to select 28 farmers, 10 vendors, 1 representative from a storage center, 5 AGRITEX officers, 3 retailers and 7 processors. From the study, it was found that there is generally a low level of aflatoxin awareness. It was also found that molds are prevalent in all stages of the value chain. Some actors receive already affected nuts. In some cases the nuts are affected during storage due to the type and duration of storage. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that because of the ignorance businesses and lives are at risk as people consume and use moldy groundnuts. Stakeholders do have strategies of keeping their products mold free .A significant component are also willing to adopt any new mitigation strategies against molds and aflatoxin. From the research findings, raising aflatoxin awareness through campaigns and training programs is recommended. This can be augmented with innovative affordable mitigation strategies against aflatoxins such as affordable storage facilities and anti-aflatoxin cultural methods.