EAC moves to address toxins in food

A regional body composing of health experts and officials from trade and industry sectors has been formed to assist the East African countries on prevention and control of aflatoxins in the region.

Regional Working Group on Aflatoxins (Rewga) was set up during the just-ended regional workshop on Aflatoxin Control Programme and is mandated to provide technical and advisory guidance to the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat on how to contain the toxins which is consumed through consumption of food, mainly cereals.

“The group will work at a regional level to provide leadership for coordinating and monitoring strategic intervention on aflatoxin,” the EAC said in a statement sent to The Citizen in Arusha.

The two-day workshop in Bujumbura, Burundi was organised by the EAC Secretariat with the support of (USaid) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Iita).

A proposal to form Rewga follows a directive of the 27th Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers, the policy organ of the Community, which was held in August last year.

The Burundi minister for Health and HIV/Aids, Mr Sabine Ntakarutimana, said aflatoxin contamination was not “adequately and appropriately controlled or regulated within the region” as most food stuffs are produced and consumed locally with no or limited testing by the relevant regulatory authorities.

Without giving exact figures, he stated that millions of people in the region consume high, unsafe levels of Aflatoxin through diets on a daily basis, calling for tackling the problem through a multi-sectoral and holistic way involving various stakeholders.

“I believe that we have achieved the objectives of the workshop in introducing components and implementation arrangements of the project, reviewing the Draft Term of Reference (TOR) and constituting the Regional Working Expert Group of Aflatoxin’’, the minister said.

The Iita representative, Dr Francesa Nelson, appreciated the collaborative arrangement a major step in efforts towards addressing the problem of aflatoxin in the region.

She emphasized the need to reach out and engage a wide range of stakeholders given the multi-sectoral nature of the project. She re-affirmed the commitment of Iita in supporting implementation of the EAC Regional Project on Aflatoxin.

For her part, the representative of the US government, Ms Allison Thomas, called upon EAC Secretariat and Iita to work on a roadmap that will explicitly illustrate the project pathway in terms of vision, goals, targets and expected outcomes and impacts.

Aflatoxin, is a toxic metabolite produced by fungal species, on daily basis through their diets and pose an adverse health and economic effects to the people along the food production and supply value chain.

The major Aflatoxin producing species are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and affect mainly cereals such as maize, sorghum, rice and wheat and other crops like cassava and groundnuts.

Experts say agricultural products contaminated with Aflatoxins pose a major threat to human and animal health. Besides liver cancer, the toxins suppresses the immune system of humans and retards the growth and development of children.

The toxin is also associated with various other diseases such as aflatoxicosis in livestock while Aflatoxin-contaminated feed and food causes causes a decrease in productivity in humans and animals and is sometimes fatal.

The Citizen

UM– USEKE.RW