Lusaka, Zambia – A three-day capacity-building workshop on implementing the African Union’s strategy framework for comprehensive aflatoxins control across the African continent has come to an end in Lusaka, Zambia, with a call for African nations to integrate aflatoxins control into their individual national programs.
The African Union Commission (AUC) Partnership for Aflatoxins Control in Africa (PACA), a program that supports the mitigation and control of aflatoxins throughout the continent, hosted the meeting from October 1–3 in Lusaka.
The conference’s primary goal was to domesticate the AU strategic framework for comprehensive aflatoxins control and to increase public awareness of the PACA aflatoxins controlled model and the tools contained within it for implementation at the regional and national levels.
Aflatoxins are very toxic, naturally occurring substances that are found in a variety of food and feed items, including groundnuts, maize, rice, and sorghum. According to research, aflatoxins are one of the most significant issues with food safety in Africa, where contamination of food crops starts in the field and continues through postharvest, made worse by climate factors and agricultural practices.
According to reports, the presence of aflatoxins has a significant influence on industries including health, trade, and agriculture, making control extremely difficult. PACA was subsequently established by the AUC in October 2012 to coordinate and assist aflatoxin mitigation and management across the health, agriculture, and trade sectors in Africa, as approved by the African Union Executive Council in Decision No. EX.CL/768 (XXII).
The organization operates on a global, regional, and national scale. PACA has developed a comprehensive program on aflatoxin control for the entire continent while addressing a wide range of options and practical measures.
PACA collaborates with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to create regional action plans for aflatoxin control at the regional level. These plans promote effective aflatoxin management along agricultural value chains, promote an enabling regulatory environment, and standardize aflatoxin standards.
PACA contends that as the continent enters the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), regional blocs will require robust and efficient trade policies to aid nations in their efforts to integrate into African markets as well as gain access to profitable global markets. Aflatoxin control is a very important food safety concern across the continent, according to Winta Sintayehu, senior program officer for PACA’s West and Central Africa region.
According to her, PACA has collaborated with a few countries on the continent over the years to control the impacts of aflatoxins.
“We encouraged countries to use the strategic framework that had been developed by PACA and endorsed by the ministers of agriculture of member states to help them in the management of aflatoxins. This strategic framework will control the use of the PACA model to control aflatoxins.”
Through PACA, the Commission has collaborated with six AU members Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Uganda to pilot models for comprehensive country-led approaches to aflatoxin control, and these nations have successfully mainstreamed aflatoxin control into their respective national systems.
According to Sintayehu, the pilot countries’ experiences had been extremely beneficial and rewarding, and as a result, the AUC is now considering expanding the procedure over all of Africa.
She claims that PACA wants to see the country-led paradigm for managing aflatoxins replicated in other nations. Sintayehu stated that the nations who are currently gaining from the programme were chosen based on strict criteria and that they have been able to support the effort. She emphasised the necessity for national governments to mobilise resources for the mitigation of aflatoxins.
Twelve new nations, including Zambia, Egypt, Kenya, Angola, Ethiopia, Mali, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Benin, have joined the PACA programme in the meantime.
The three-day workshop brought together high-level delegations from many African nations, including Liberia, as well as researchers, academics, policymakers, and commercial sector actors.
Reported by: Augustine Octavius
Contact: +231777463963
Email: augustineoctavius@gmail.com
