{"id":13125,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/nafdac-and-iita-flag-off-awareness-on-aflatoxin-in-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:26","slug":"nafdac-and-iita-flag-off-awareness-on-aflatoxin-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/nafdac-and-iita-flag-off-awareness-on-aflatoxin-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"NAFDAC and IITA flag off awareness on aflatoxin in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IITA_NAFDAC.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-10026\" src=\"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IITA_NAFDAC.jpg\" alt=\"IITA\/NAFDAC CONFERENCE\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" \/><\/a>Nigeria\u2019s food  and drug regulator, the National Agency for Food  and Drug Administration  and Control (NAFDAC), in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized an awareness workshop for the country\u2019s southeastern region on the 13th\u00a0of November 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Director General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, said the aims of the campaign were to educate consumers, farmers,  and the industrial sector on the risks  and harmful effects of aflatoxins in food  and feeds as well as their control\/reduction strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Orhii, who was represented by Mrs Stella Denloye, NAFDAC\u2019s Director of Laboratory Services, said, \u201cThe clear objectives are to highlight the extent of aflatoxin contamination of Nigeria\u2019s staple foods  and export commodities \u2026 the negative economic impact on trade  and foreign exchange earnings \u2026  and to draw attention to mitigation strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Produced by the fungus <em>Aspergillus flavus<\/em>, aflatoxins are naturally occurring fungal toxins abundant in the soil that contaminate food products such as maize, groundnut, as well as other crops. They are carcinogenic to man  and cause immune-suppression, cancer,  and growth reduction in animals. In some cases, consumption of high levels of aflatoxins has resulted in deaths of animals  and human beings. In Kenya, for instance, consumption of maize contaminated with aflatoxins resulted in about 200 deaths between 2004  and 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStudies in Nigeria also show high levels of aflatoxin contamination in maize  and groundnut\u201d, say Drs Ranajit B andyopadhyay, IITA scientist  and team leader for the Africa-wide initiative for the control of aflatoxin;  and Joseph Atehnkeng, Project Coordinator for Aflatoxin Control in West Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd people are consuming these toxins in ignorance, compromising their health,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To mitigate the spread  and contamination of grains by these lethal fungal toxins, IITA  and partners developed a biocontrol product\u2014aflasafeTM\u2014that has proven effective in controlling aflatoxins. Studies show that the application of aflasafeTM in farmers\u2019 field reduced aflatoxin contamination by more than 90 percent,  and birds fed with aflasafeTM-treated maize recorded less mortality  and had a higher feed conversion ratio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adebowale Ak ande, AgResults Aflasafe Pilot Manager, said the flag off aimed to introduce aflasafeTM to farmers in the southeastern part of the country so that they could adopt,  and use the product on their farms for both health benefits  and higher incomes. \u201cThe more people are aware of mitigation options, the better equipped they will be to h andle  and manage the situation,\u201d Ak ande added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The workshop in Enugu is the third in the series, coming after similar ones in Abuja  and Ibadan for the north central  and south western regions of Nigeria, respectively. It builds on ongoing initiatives such as the Commercial Agricultural Development Program (CADP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The awareness\/sensitization workshops are supported by Australia\/AUSAID, the Bill  and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada\/Finance Canada, the United Kingdom\/DFID,  and the United States\/USAID through Deloitte Consulting LLC on behalf of the World Bank under the AgResults Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u00c0 propos de l'IITA<\/strong> <a>www.iita.org<\/a><br>The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world\u2019s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition,  and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality  and productivity, reduce producer  and consumer risks,  and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria  and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana\/plantain, yam, cassava,  and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pour plus d'informations, contactez :<br>Godwin Atser, Corporate Communications Officer, IITA <a>g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andrea Gros, Head of Communication, IITA <a>a.gros@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria\u2019s food and drug regulator, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized an awareness workshop for the country\u2019s southeastern region on the 13th of November 2013&#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":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[191],"class_list":["post-13125","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-nigeria","item-year-191"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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