Issue 6, January–March 2019
Welcome!
 There’s a food-safety revolution in the air in this sixth edition of ATTC News, and it’s a glorious revolution of many voices as aflatoxin smashes onto agendas everywhere. We’ve been hearing from some of those who are leading the charge, as our partners reveal the game-changers and learning curves in their Aflasafe journeys. Harvestfield Industries, our manufacturing and distribution partners in Nigeria, tell an enthralling tale with insights on the challenges they’re facing and successes they’re celebrating; lessons learnt and their long-term commitment to Aflasafe; and why they want to see more government action on aflatoxin. Likewise in The Gambia, the National Food Security, Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC) give us the inside scoop on the workings of their programme to distribute Aflasafe to farmers, and buy back the Aflasafe-treated aflatoxin-safe groundnuts – plus an ambitious future goal…
 We’ve also hit the road again listening to farmers in The Gambia and Senegal. A common thread running through their richly diverse tales is Aflasafe’s benefits for family health – as well as its surprising bonuses. They are stories of lives changed for the better and knowledge shared, but also challenges and concerns.
Meanwhile, 2019 is poised to be the year aflatoxin goes mainstream, breaking out of the agriculture box and into the conversation in the areas where aflatoxin hits our nations hardest – like health, trade, and economics. Fittingly, 2019 is also the year of the first ever World Food Safety Day, on 7 June, with the theme Food Safety, everyone’s business. We’re delighted to be part of that growing dialogue, for example as partners in a new national awareness project in Ghana. Read on too for our regular features: country-by-country round-ups; a message from our Managing Director centred on food safety; our latest communications and R&D news – including Aflasafe registration in a ninth country; and what’s next on our rapidly expanding horizon.
A word from the ATTC MD, Abdou Konlambigue
Our Managing Director reflects on the first International Food Safety Conference, and the vital connections between food safety and the Sustainable Development Goals. We’re walking the talk as we transfer Aflasafe to our partners and put them in the driving seat of our commercialisation journey. More
Latest news
Nigeria: Private sector powering an Aflasafe™ revolution
 We returned to Aflasafe’s motherland to hear from Harvestfield Industries, our manufacturing and distribution partner in Nigeria, to find out how the commercialisation of Aflasafe™ is faring so far. Harvestfield is leading the anti-aflatoxin revolution in Nigeria with astute stewardship and tapping into their extensive networks across the country. And tackling the toxin is a matter of urgency – Africa’s most populous nation has a keen appetite for groundnuts and maize, so contamination endangers the health of millions of Nigerians. Harvestfield is committed to Aflasafe for the long term, as part of their strategy to provide made-in-Nigeria solutions and contribute to agricultural innovation. With aflatoxin contamination an invisible problem, they’ve needed plenty of persistence and persuasive powers to recruit others to this solution-led revolution.
 “Our first year of operation was not about sales but rather a steep learning curve on the appropriate strategy for successfully marketing this new product. With a good strategy and ample awareness creation coupled with the support we’re enjoying from all the stakeholders, Aflasafe has a very bright future … Where there is a challenge, we seek the solution. Aflatoxin in Nigeria is a problem, well-recognised by both the federal and state governments, and Aflasafe is amongst the solutions. By solving this problem, there are direct health and economic benefits for the people, in addition to food safety and enhanced trade … Nigeria is a good test-case for IITA. Success in Nigeria guarantees success anywhere else in Africa!”
Harvestfield is forging the way and further nurturing pre-existing positive relationships with government bodies in Nigeria. But they’re also keen for faster progress, greater government support and more decisive action, particularly by state governments. More
The Gambia: Gunning for Aflasafe-enabled aflatoxin-safe food
 The Gambia continues to make great strides towards aflatoxin safety in groundnuts, mostly thanks to the proactive approach of the National Food Security, Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC), which considers food safety as an integral part of its food-security mandate. Not only do NFSPMC participate in aflatoxin awareness campaigns, they’ve created a hands-on end-to-end scheme to supply Aflasafe SN01 to farmers and buy back their aflatoxin-safe groundnuts.
The results are impressive for food safety, cutting contamination by 90–98%. They’re hoping to gain ground abroad too, breathing health and vigour into exports to lucrative markets such as the European Union, which have been hit hard by aflatoxin contamination – “Aflasafe is the game-changer that will help us expand our market share.” NFSPMC is gunning for meteoric progress, with an exciting countrywide goal for 2021. More
Additional country roundups
 Burkina Faso
In another exciting instalment from our real-world Aflasafe BF01 demonstrations with farmers in Burkina Faso, we bring you the latest scientific analysis from the lab. It confirms the results of our participatory live testing in the field, offering our partners even stronger evidence of Aflasafe’s effectiveness. More
The Gambia
 “Fear of aflatoxin is now a thing of the past,” says Ndey Jeng. We’re back in The Gambia, with Aflasafe SN01-using farmers in Pakau Njogu. They shared their diverse perspectives and concerns: for many, the personal health benefits of using Aflasafe are the biggest boon, but the higher NFSPMC prices too are a motivator – plus some unexpected bonuses, that have scientists scratching their heads… More
Ghana
Aflatoxin awareness is taking off in Ghana this year, thanks to a brand-new multi-partner ATTC-brokered National Aflatoxin Sensitisation and Management project (NASAM). Led by the Ghana Standards Authority and funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, NASAM aims to massively ramp up aflatoxin awareness in Ghana, and attract other organisations – as well as the public at large – to join the fight against aflatoxin. More
Senegal
 We heard a chorus of voices in perfect harmony when we spoke to users in Koungheul, full of enthusiasm on the health benefits of Aflasafe, glad to protect their families – and others. But they also had a reality check and a critical key for Aflasafe’s successful commercialisation: while some were keen, not all felt willing or able to buy Aflasafe, due to a lack of upfront cash or credit, or financial incentives to grow extra aflatoxin-safe food beyond their own home supply. More
Tanzania
 Thousands of maize farmers in Tanzania are learning how to fight aflatoxin with Aflasafe TZ01, through training-of-trainer sessions organised by partners, to which we have the privilege of bringing Aflasafe. This vital knowledge is travelling further, faster and more efficiently, thanks to the expertise and on-the-ground farmer networks these partners have. More
More
 Don’t see an update on your country of interest? Aflasafe is currently commercially available or registered in nine countries across Africa, and is undergoing development, testing or registration in nine more. For all the latest details, visit Aflasafe where I am.
New from us, and news from the world
 Communications and media
The food-safety revolution is being televised!
Aflatoxin is increasingly breaking into mainstream agendas, and that means joining the conversation in all the arenas where it matters most, like health and economics. We’re continuing to converse in a rainbow array of tongues too: we’re collating and expanding our French content; we have a fresh how-to in Kiswahili for Kenya; and we’re delighted to support a bouquet of local-language videos for Senegal. And the grass isn’t growing under our feet as we continually update our communications products to reflect Aflasafe’s rapid progress across Africa. More
Aflasafe R&D
We’re delighted to announce that Aflasafe has been approved for registration in Mozambique, paving the path to commercial availability and safer food in the near future. We’ll be seeking potential manufacturing and distribution partners. Mozambique makes number nine in our constellation of countries with a registered locally tailored Aflasafe product.
There’s another round of interesting ideas to report from our colleagues at AgResults, on how market systems theory applies to Aflasafe uptake, and an independent impact evaluation report on the AgResults Aflasafe Challenge Project in Nigeria.
 Finally, we’re very proud of our very own multitalented Alejandro Ortega-Beltrán, pathologist and photographer extraordinaire, and of his winning entry in the CGIAR MAIZE CRP Photo Contest on the theme of ‘Harvest Diversity’. The photo features a farmer in Bako, Ethiopia reaching up to share ears of his beautiful native maize, to be tested for aflatoxin and Aspergillus as part of our hunt for friendly aflatoxin-fighting fungi with which to create an Aflasafe product for Ethiopia. Here’s the photo in its full and living colour!
What next for Aflasafe commercialisation?
 Compared to our experience in other countries, things are moving unusually fast in Tanzania: with a firm training foundation already in place, we are very much looking forward to working with our new commercialisation partner to get Aflasafe TZ01 to many thousands of farmers. In Burkina Faso too, we have a new distribution partner hitting the ground running, and there’s an exciting and transformative project in the works on aflatoxin-safety for maize. More on all these new developments in Tanzania and Burkina Faso in the next issue.
We’ve been sowing the seeds for an Aflasafe revolution in Malawi, and we hope to see young shoots blossoming as swiftly here as in neighbouring Tanzania. The global buzz and lively dialogues on food safety look set to grow even bigger and louder – and we’re in step with both the walk and talk. Standing for Africa, we’ll be joining these conversations, while continuing to work alongside our partners to increase awareness of aflatoxin and its solutions.
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