A brief official ceremony was held on 6 May at the Conference Room of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to hand over rapid aflatoxin test equipment to the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) to improve Aflatoxin Management and Control (AMC) in Ghana. The equipment consisted of three Aflatoxin test scanners (Raptor), 15 boxes of Reveal Q+ for aflatoxin test kits, and 425 raptor vortex cartridges. In addition, five GCX staff were trained to use this equipment for aflatoxin testing. This was part of a project grant support from AGRA to IITA to provide the Technical Assistance Program on Aflatoxin Management and Control (AMC-TAP) to the Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (DAES-MoFA) and the GCX.
The project aims to catalyze and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation by improving food safety and security through institutionalized systems for aflatoxin management and control. Other project deliverables include training 500 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) as trainers and 25 GCX warehouse staff on AMC.
The partnership between IITA and the GCX dates back to 2019, when the two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on issues relating to AMC, including advocacy, awareness creation, training, and advisory support on aflatoxin test equipment.
Presenting the items, AGRA Regional Head Lionel Kadja stressed that AGRA is pleased to work with partner institutions like IITA to solve food security issues in Africa. He noted that food-borne diseases and aflatoxin contamination, in particular, adversely impact the food security, health, and trade sectors of many economies of which Ghana is no exception. He commended the GCX for helping to improve market linkages in Ghana and advised GCX to put the equipment to good use to help curb the adverse effects of aflatoxins in Ghana.
The Program Officer, Dr Dorothy Effa, lauded IITA’s efforts in ensuring timely delivery of the test equipment and explained how it aligns with achieving the project’s goal when used effectively. She further advised the GCX to ensure proper use and maintenance of the equipment to benefit smallholder farmers and market actors in the various commodity value chains.
IITA Technical Consultant Daniel Agbetiameh explained the test equipment’s function and the benefit it will offer to the GCX in their operations in contributing to AMC. This will further increase the availability of aflatoxin testing services to other grain aggregators supporting adherence to set standards, especially on aflatoxin. The equipment is also useful to test for the presence of other mycotoxins, provided that the corresponding kits are purchased.
GCX Chief Operations Officer Robert Dowuona Owo, on behalf of the Board, Management, and Staff of the GCX, expressed gratitude to AGRA and IITA for the equipment and training support. He reiterated that the interaction between AGRA and IITA teams with the GCX team during the presentation highlighted their keen interest in the GCX role in addressing market inefficiencies, postharvest losses, storage issues, and agricultural financing in Ghana.
Contributed by Dr Daniel Agbetiameh
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