{"id":16343,"date":"2026-06-20T12:50:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/food-security-the-balance-of-quantity-nutrition-and-safety\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:38:14","slug":"food-security-the-balance-of-quantity-nutrition-and-safety","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/food-security-the-balance-of-quantity-nutrition-and-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Food security: The balance of quantity, nutrition, and safety"},"content":{"rendered":"A reflection on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agrilinks.org\/post\/month-agrilinks-food-safety-focus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Food Safety Month<\/a>\n\n\u201cOur history of hunger and starvation on the African continent has given many of us a skewed perception of food security: our subconscious target is to fill every belly.\u201d This quote from IITA Research Scientist\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/iita-staff\/mutegi-charity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Charity Mutegi<\/a>\u00a0lays the foundation for her discourse on the important, but very often overlooked, matter of food safety.\n<div id=\"attachment_3405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 777px\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Charity-Mutegi-Kenya-Country-Coordinator-for-the-Aflasafe-Project.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3405\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Charity-Mutegi-Kenya-Country-Coordinator-for-the-Aflasafe-Project.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of Charity Mutegi, Kenya Country Coordinator for the Aflasafe Project\" width=\"777\" height=\"519\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3405\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3405\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charity Mutegi, Kenya Country Coordinator for the Aflasafe Project<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nMutegi maintains that while high yielding crops are important, \u201cWhat is the use of a plentiful harvest if eating it does us harm?\u201d\n\nBeyond quantity, even the most nutritious crop does not guarantee safety as it can become harmful in the absence of good agricultural and manufacturing practices. Using the example of aflatoxin she states: \u201cAflatoxin, routinely found in dangerous quantities in foods across sub-Saharan Africa, illustrates the dilemma of plenty versus safe in the African context.\u201d\n\nMutegi currently works with the Aflasafe Project as Kenya Country Coordinator. She considers that raising awareness about safety concerns is paramount and must go beyond our traditional focus on farmers.\n\nRead Mutegi\u2019s full blog post in the Borlaug Blog on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldfoodprize.org\/index.cfm\/88533\/18334\/hungry_bellies_and_silent_killers_why_both_quantity_and_quality_matter_in_food_security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hungry Bellies and Silent Killers: Why both Quantity and Quality Matter in Food Security<\/a>.\u201d","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOur history of hunger and starvation on the African continent has given many of us a skewed perception of food security: our subconscious target is to fill every belly.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16344,"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 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