In our last issue, I brought you news of our ever-expanding partnership with four private-sector companies manufacturing and/or distributing Aflasafe in six African countries. From a single delivery point for all Africa in 2017 at IITA headquarters, today, Aflasafe is available in more than 30 distribution points across six countries, with Nigeria taking the lead. The management of aflatoxins using Aflasafe is increasingly being included in the routine training curriculum for agro-dealers. As a result, some agro-dealers are already displaying Aflasafe alongside other agricultural inputs in their shop, and they are advising farmers on why and how to use it. On the demand side, an increasing number of downstream companies in the groundnut, maize and sorghum value-chains are discovering – and endorsing – Aflasafe as a proven preventive technology to address aflatoxin contamination right from the field. These are momentous developments that will not only catalyse but also completely transform the narrative on commercialising Aflasafe.
Further afield at the continental and global level, there is a remarkable and growing interest for greater food safety. During the 2018 African Green Revolution Forum held in Rwanda, HE Amb Josefa Sacko, the African Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Economy, announced the introduction of a food-safety indicator in the African Union’s Biennial Review framework. This long overdue measure will certainly spur national governments to create an enabling environment to make food safe for their populations. We shall keenly follow the progress, and readily make our contribution to a goal we already loudly articulate and cherish – safer food for Africa.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to key highlights in this fourth edition of our newsletter:
- Aflasafe works! We’re not the only ones saying it this time: a shipment of Aflasafe-protected groundnuts has passed the stringent European Union standard on aflatoxin
- Back home to Africa, as anticipated, our new distribution partners in ‘green’ fields such as Burkina Faso and Ghana have hit the ground running to demonstrate the economic value of Aflasafe to value-chain actors
- We warmly welcome Tanzania as the latest ‘ATTC’ country, with a successful Aflasafe Investors forum held in Dar es Salam, and more in store
- Along with the African Union’s Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, we co-hosted a food-safety side event at the 2018 edition of the African Green Revolution Forum. Food safety is the broader umbrella under which all of ATTC’s work falls, and we shall continue to have sustained engagement in relevant food-safety fora.
In the meantime, enjoy this 4th edition of ATTC News.
Abdou Konlambigue
Managing Director, Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, IITA
September 2018
