ILRI sponsors special journal issue on aflatoxins in eastern Africa

Aflatoxin-contaminated groundnut kernels from Mozambique (photo credit: IITA).

A special issue of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) published in July 2016 and sponsored by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) features 12 peer-reviewed scientific articles on aflatoxins in eastern Africa.

The three broad objectives of the special issue are to understand the health consequences of aflatoxins, characterize the extent of the problem and identify key elements to underpin the way forward to mitigation.

The papers, listed below, are all open access and the PDFs are freely available for download at the AJFAND website.

Editorial
Aflatoxins in East Africa: The importance of getting the full picture (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76526)

Understanding the health impacts

• Assessing the impact of aflatoxin consumption on animal health and productivity (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76497)
• Aflatoxin exposure among young children in urban low-income areas of Nairobi and association with child growth (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76498)

Extent and location of the problem

• Aflatoxin B1 occurrence in millet, sorghum and maize from four agro-ecological zones in Kenya (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76499)
• Prevalence of aflatoxin in feeds and cow milk from five counties in Kenya (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76501)
• Survey of informal milk retailers in Nairobi, Kenya and prevalence of aflatoxin M1 in marketed milk (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76502)
• Assessment of pre-harvest aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination of maize in Babati District, Tanzania
• Aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination of marketed maize and maize bran and maize used as animal feed in northern Tanzania
• Mapping aflatoxin risk from milk consumption using biophysical and socio-economic data: A case study of Kenya (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76503)
• Examining environmental drivers of spatial variability in aflatoxin accumulation in Kenyan maize: Potential utility in risk prediction models

Finding the way forward to mitigation

• Farmer perception of moulds and mycotoxins within the Kenya dairy value chain: A gendered analysis (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76495)
• A review of agricultural aflatoxin management strategies and emerging innovations in sub-Saharan Africa
• Potential of lactic acid fermentation in reducing aflatoxin B1 in Tanzania maize-based gruel

 

Study identifies options to improve milk quality in smallholder dairy value chains in Western Zambia

Testing the quality of raw milk in Kenya’s informal market. A new study has identified options that could help improve milk quality in Zambia’s Western Province (photo credit: ILRI/Dave Elsworth).

Solar pasteurisation and quality-based pricing of milk are among interventions whose feasibility should be explored towards improving the safety of milk produced by smallholders in Western Province of Zambia, a new study says.

The study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (July 2016) was carried out to assess the microbiological quality of fresh cow’s milk along smallholder dairy value chains in Western Province of Zambia. The focus was on milk sold through dairy co-operatives near Mongu, the main town in the province.

Milk samples were collected at the farm level from 86 cows from nine herds and from the container of pooled milk from the herd. Samples were also collected upon arrival at the two dairy co-operatives (Limulunga and Mongu) to which the pooled milk was delivered. Additional serial samples were collected at the co-operatives and refrigerated to simulate the recommended storage conditions after purchase or at the co-operatives.

Microbiological analysis of the milk samples assessed the counts of total bacteria and coliforms and tested for the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus species and Streptococcus species.

The milk at the farm level initially had low levels of bacteria but the microbial counts increased along the value chain as the milk was transported to the co-operative. This is in part due to the absence of a cold chain between milking and the point of sale.

Although coliform counts were low, a high proportion of samples were contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli, suggesting poor handling and faecal contamination, respectively. However, the most critical observation with regard to milk safety was the lack of pasteurisation or boiling, which would eliminate almost all microbial pathogens present.

The study therefore proposes that more work should be done to look into the feasibility of various interventions that could improve the quality of milk produced and sold in the region.

“Sustainable methods of milk pasteurisation should be investigated, as a microbial-kill step is needed to mitigate upstream contamination,” the authors observe.

Solar pasteurisation has been suggested as a possible option to be explored, in light of unreliable electricity supply, low levels of technical support and low volumes of milk handled at the dairy co-operatives.

“Paying producers more for safer, higher quality milk would create an incentive for producer investment in milk quality,” they add. Currently, all farmers receive the same price for their milk, regardless of the quality.

Selling milk to large dairies is not feasible at the moment because the quantities of milk produced are low and inconsistent. Also, most consumers prefer to buy milk from the informal sector.

Therefore, raising awareness of the need to boil milk before consumption is another important intervention that would improve milk safety at the consumer stage of the value chain by eliminating the pathogen risk. In addition, it may increase consumers’ willingness to pay for pasteurised milk.

Reference
Theodore J.D. Knight-Jones and others. Microbial contamination and hygiene of fresh cow’s milk produced by smallholders in western Zambia (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21 July 2016).

 

Apocalyptic numbers: Antibiotic resistance as the classic ‘One Health’ (and classic ‘One World’) planetary issue

ILRI news

Depicted in this watercoloured etching, The Ancient of Days, by William Blake,
is Urizen, a  figure that for Blake embodied reason and law.
Urizen’s outstretched hand holds a compass over the darker void below,
representing an event in the Book of Proverbs,
‘when he set a compass upon the face of the earth’
(image via the British Museum).

This is the first in a series of articles being published by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in the lead up to the High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, which will be held in the margins of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, attended by heads of state and government at the UN’s New York City headquarters on 21 Sep 2016. Global leaders at the summit will commit to leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance, including the all-important resistance to antibiotics. Following statements from the World Health Organisation…

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Connecting the dots: Actionable recommendations towards safer pork and leafy vegetables in Vietnam

ILRI Asia

The consultation workshop towards safer pork and vegetables in Vietnam was held on 27 July 2016 in Hanoi (photo credit: ILRI).  

Responsiveness to citizens’ needs and demands is an indicator of good governance and public service. In Vietnam, the government and development partners including international organizations and research centres with expertise in food safety and risk management are responding to a growing public concern over food safety.

This year, the Vietnamese government and partners have been carrying out an assessment of food safety risks in the country. The ‘Food safety risk management in Vietnam: Challenges and opportunities’ study is led by the World Bank with technical support from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners. It started in January 2016 and will be completed at the end of August. ILRI has also asked for research support from Risk Taskforce, a project also supported by ILRI.

The study used…

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Aligned to improve nutrition and health: Announcing A4NH 2015 annual report

Herding sheep in Menz, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet).

With four successful years completed in 2015, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is excited to draw on important lessons from past years, continue building a strong evidence base and plan for new projects, expanded research areas and opportunities to scale. The A4NH 2015 annual report, which details our latest progress and plans, is now available.

Read more on the A4NH website.

 

High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition launches sustainable livestock development report

ILRI news

A High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) is the science-policy interface of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which is, at the global level, the foremost inclusive and evidence-based international and intergovernmental platform for food security and nutrition.

HLPE reports serve as a common, comprehensive, evidence-based starting point for intergovernmental and international multistakeholder policy debates in CFS. The HLPE draws its studies based on existing research and knowledge and organizes a scientific dialogue, built upon the diversity of disciplines, backgrounds, knowledge systems, diversity of its Steering Committee and Project Teams, and upon open electronic consultations.

HLPE reports are widely used as reference documents within and beyond CFS and the UN system, by the scientific community as well as by political decision-makers and stakeholders, at international, regional and national levels.

In October 2014, the CFS requested the HLPE to prepare a…

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Pandemic proofing the world: View point on tackling emerging zoonotic diseases

An Ethiopian woman breeds sheep for a living (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet).

On the matter of global health and tackling the looming threat of emerging infectious disease pandemics, Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shares her views in a recent blog post, Pandemic proofing the world, published by How We Get To Next.

The post argues the case for greater attention to diseases that can be transmitted to people through livestock, better incentive structures for reporting of livestock disease outbreaks so that timely disease reporting is rewarded rather than punished, and the need to tackle the root causes and not just the symptoms of emerging zoonotic diseases.

Read the post, Pandemic proofing the world by Delia Grace, How We Get To Next, 29 June 2016

 

ILRI shares ongoing research on ensuring food safety in Vietnam at Hanoi conference

ILRI Asia

During the plenary session of the Vietnam Agricultural Outlook Conference 2016 (photo credit: ILRI/Hung Nguyen)

An agricultural conference that discussed ways to strengthen Vietnam’s integration and competitiveness in the global market, as well as the readiness of its livestock, rice and fisheries sectors for the challenges of climate change, was recently held in Hanoi.

Co-organized by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), the Department of Economics of the Office of the National Assembly, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Australian Embassy, the ‘Vietnam Agricultural Outlook Conference 2016’ brought together scientists, economists, officials and representatives from Vietnamese government agencies, international research organizations and the private sector.

Hung Nguyen, a food safety and zoonotic diseases scientist from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and acting regional representative for ILRI East and Southeast Asia, co-chaired a session on ‘livestock commodity – global…

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Research on local technologies to improve dairy hygiene in Côte d’Ivoire presented at international conference

Safe Food, Fair Food

Man selling raw milk along the railway tracks in Abobo, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (photo credit: CSRS/ILRI/Sylvie Mireille Kouamé-Sina).

Interventions to improve food safety and nutrition may be some of the best investments for improved health of populations. Ideally, these investments should target multiple disciplines to link health and education to agricultural systems.

Fermentation of dairy products is one such intervention that helps to extend their shelf life and improve microbial safety and nutritive quality. Sylvain Traoré, a postdoctoral scientist at Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d’Ivoire, has been continuing with research he started through the Safe Food, Fair Food project on the use of participatory methods to improve the safety of dairy products in informal markets.

Traoré recently carried out a cross-sectional study in Korhogo, northern Côte d’Ivoire to assess local dairy fermentation technologies and map the local dairy supply chain to identify areas where interventions can be…

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Zoonotic diseases featured during UNEP Science-Policy Forum

ILRI veterinary epidemiologist Delia Grace presenting at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Science-Policy Forum that preceded the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), on 20 May 2016 (photo credit: ILRI).

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held its first global Science-Policy Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 19-20 May 2016 as part of the overall programme of the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) held on 23-27 May 2016.

The forum offered a platform to the science community to engage with policymakers and civil society stakeholders on the science and knowledge needed to support informed decision-making to deliver on the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), took part in the forum as a panellist for the launch of the UNEP Frontiers 2016 report on emerging issues of environmental concern.

Her presentation on zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases focused on the global burden of zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be transmitted between animals and people), the drivers of disease (among them, land use change, environmental degradation and climate change) and how the multidisciplinary One Health approach can be used to support timely response to the threat of zoonotic diseases.

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Zoonotic diseases are also featured in a chapter in the UNEP Frontiers 2016 report, Zoonoses: Blurred lines of emergent disease and ecosystem health by Delia Grace and ILRI colleagues Bernard Bett, Hu Suk Lee and Susan MacMillan.