{"id":13091,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/zambian-farmers-excited-about-prospects-of-safer-crops-with-aflasafetm\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","slug":"zambian-farmers-excited-about-prospects-of-safer-crops-with-aflasafetm","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/zambian-farmers-excited-about-prospects-of-safer-crops-with-aflasafetm\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambian farmers excited about prospects of safer crops with aflasafeTM"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Zambian-Farmers.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9853\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Zambian-Farmers.jpg\" alt=\"Zambian farmers\" width=\"250\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a>Farmers in Zambia are in high spirits as IITA  and partners develop  and distribute the first-ever batch of aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> that is tailor-made for the country, giving hope of crops that are safe from deadly aflatoxins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In mid-January, maize farmers in the Eastern Province of Zambia received more than one ton of aflasafeTM that is now being applied in their fields. This marks the first official field application of the biocontrol product in the country  and comes only a year after researchers from IITA, the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI),  and the National Institute for Scientific  and Industrial Research (NSIR) began work to identify the best safe \u2013 or atoxigenic \u2013 strains of the <em>Aspergillus flavus<\/em> fungi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toxigenic \u2013 or poison-forming \u2013 strains of the <em>A. flavus<\/em> fungus are what causes aflatoxins in crops; however, its atoxigenic cousins could also be used to counter them. This is the basic principle of an innovative biocontrol solution developed  and commercialized by the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) widely used in southern USA to combat aflatoxin contamination in maize, cotton,  and groundnut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Safe strains of the fungus are inoculated onto sterile sorghum grains  and applied in the field to out-compete their aflatoxin-producing cousins. The product is called aflasafeTM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a year of careful study at IITA in Nigeria  and the USDA-ARS in the US, eight unique  and naturally-occurring atoxigenic strains were identified from over 3000 Zambian fungi. These strains do not possess the genetic machinery to produce aflatoxins, are unrelated to aflatoxin-producing fungi,  and are highly competitive. These strains were then used to develop aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> deployed in Zambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belita Kayumba, the first Zambian farmer to receive  and apply aflasafeTM, said, \u201cWe know that some of the crops we produce are not safe to eat, but what can I do when my children say that they are very hungry? We just take our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut now with aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> here in my field I am sure that my children will finally be safe  and healthy!\u201d she said excitedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Thomas Dubois, IITA scientist who led the research to develop aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> for Zambia, said, \u201cIn a couple of months, after harvest, she  and other farmers like her will know how good aflasafeTM is in reducing aflatoxins in their crops  and in their food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe use of aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> reduces aflatoxins during crop development, in postharvest storage,  and throughout the value chain. Based on our experience in West Africa, we estimate that aflatoxin levels in fields treated with aflasafe<sup>TM<\/sup> will be reduced by 80 to 90 percent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maize  and groundnuts\u2014two of Zambia\u2019s most important cash  and food security crops\u2014are prone to aflatoxin contamination. This is a major concern as it negatively affects the health of humans  and domesticated animals, causing stunting in children  and cancer. Aflatoxin contamination also hampers international trade  and economic growth as it prevents affected export commodities from meeting stringent trade  and food safety st andards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Worse still is that rejected contaminated produce are not usually destroyed, finding their way into the domestic food chain  and wreaking havoc on local consumers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Farmers in Zambia are in high spirits as IITA and partners develop and distribute the first-ever batch of aflasafeTM that is tailor-made for the country, giving hope of crops that are safe from deadly aflatoxins&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[46],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[68],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[191],"class_list":["post-13091","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-zambia","crop-maize","item-year-191"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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