Nigeria, UK Partner to Combat Aflatoxin with Commercialisation of Aflasafe

Gilbert Ekugbe

Worried about the high level of toxic secondary metabolites in agro commodities, Nigeria and the United Kingdom have partnered to combat the preponderance of aflatoxin with the commercialisation of Aflasafe.

The move is apt to checkmate the current situation of aflatoxin, which according to the Technical Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture on Knowledge Management and Communication, Richard Mark-Mbaram is “code red” for Nigeria’s agro commodities.

The British acting High Commissioner, Gill Atkinson, who was represented by the Trade Advisor, Agriculture & Mining sectors at the Department for International Trade (DIT), Oluwaseyi Adepoju, at the Pre-Summit Webinar of the forthcoming Feed Nigeria Summit (FNS) themed, “POST-COVID 19: A Repaired Food System, Pathway to a Revived Economy,” billed for 23rd and 24th August, 2021, said the UK has aided in the commercialisation of Aflasafe, a natural fungus that reduces aflatoxins in food while supporting the use of solar irrigation and solar dryers to reduce food wastage.

She also highlighted the bond between the UK government and Nigeria’s in developing the use of high yielding, drought and flood resilient seeds for rice and maize.

In his address, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, said the summit was cardinal to charting the course of sustainable and tailored solutions to the challenges bedeviling Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

Nanono, who was represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Ms. Karima Babaginda, reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to accelerating the country’s progress towards adequate agricultural production, improvement in quality of commodities to meet international standards and lifting of millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

He added that the summit activity would address concerns surrounding Nigeria’s food systems and proffer clear-cut solutions to strengthen the overall economic recovery efforts of the government at all levels.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Olusola Idowu emphasised that the only way to achieve sustainable food security was to ensure effective implementation of agric policies.

On his part, Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation to the President, African Development Bank (AFDB), Prof. Oyebanji Oyelaran, harped on the need to ramp up the idea of clustering and agglomeration in space as relates to Agro Zones.

“Nigeria shouldn’t be going hungry, it should not be in a food crisis, Nigeria should be a leader in agribusiness and Special Agro Zones are the model to go in dealing with repairing Nigeria’s food system,” Oyelaran stated.

On his part, Chief Adviser on the FNS Deal Room, Dr. Debisi Araba, expressed that despite the challenges faced by the agricultural sector, the global agricultural food sector was valued at 8 trillion dollars which drives the need for improvement in Nigeria’s agriculture due to its great potential.

Araba noted that the FNS Deal Room is aimed at achieving viable agribusiness propositions, which will be targeted at investors to facilitate funding while ensuring improved scale of investments in the Agricultural Food Sector.

Chairman of the FNS organising Committee, Prof. Eustace Iyayi, noted the importance of the summit in promoting agricultural development, which was affected by the impact of COVID-19 while stressing on the need for stringent attention on agricultural production to boost a sustainable food system.

The FNS is Nigeria’s foremost agricultural convocation. This year’s event will focus on revamping the country’s food system architecture and address concerns surrounding critical value chain activities in the sector.