Concentrating aflatoxins on the domestic market through groundnut export: A focus on Malawian groundnut value and supply chain

Economies of most sub-Saharan African countries are predominantly agricultural-based. In order to export foodstuffs to high value markets, a certain set of minimum safety standards must be met. For groundnuts, hand-sorting is performed at farmer and exporter level to eliminate contaminated kernels. A meta-analysis was performed on aflatoxin data generated by a laboratory in Malawi in order to determine the fate aflatoxins in the groundnut value and supply chain in Malawi. Additionally the public knowledge on aflatoxin issues was evaluated. Groundnut products on the local market contained distinctly higher aflatoxin levels compared with samples of groundnuts destined for exports. The results demonstrated that through hand sorting of the nuts farmers can potentially access high value markets with stringent aflatoxin regulatory limits. However, considering that there are no channels for diversion of the grade-outs the exportation of the nuts is projected to be concentrating aflatoxins on the local market. Moreover public knowledge on aflatoxin issues was limited. In view of this it is recommendable that future strategies should not only focus on meeting exports requirements but should begin with ensuring safety of the local food through rigorous public awareness campaigns. Well informed farmers are more likely to take care on the whole production chain thus making the local food safe and the exportation much easier.