PACA honors IITA scientist and partner
The efficacy of Aflasafe to combat contamination of food crops by aflatoxins from the field up to storage has received further recognition from the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), a flagship program on the African Union Commission under the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture.
Award certificate – with (left-right) Alejandro, Victor, Abdou, and Lawrence.
To mark this achievement, IITA’s Ranajit Bandyopadhyay and Peter Cotty of the United States Department of Agriculture–Agriculture Research Service at the University of Arizona, were celebrated for formulating the biocontrol product for aflatoxin mitigation, during the 2nd PACA Partnership Platform Meeting held on 11-13 October in Entebbe, Uganda. Victor Manyong, IITA Director for East Africa represented the honorees at the award ceremony.
Ranajit (right) and Peter examining a specimen
of Aspergilus flavus in the lab.
PACA recognized the champions for their dedicated work in developing a biological control option (Aflasafe) that can effectively control aflatoxin contamination. PACA says that the “painstaking laboratory and field research to develop the Aflasafe technology has found practical use in many African countries and is actually registered for use in Nigeria, Kenya, and recently in West African states. The seamless work between your labs in Ibadan, Nigeria and Tucson, Arizona has trained a cadre of African scientists who are now leading the research and commercialization of the Aflasafe technology in Africa.”
Aflasafe continues to show consistency in achieving high levels of protection against aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut in all the countries where it has been registered. Aflasafe products are in the process of development or becoming registered in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The new Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization project is scaling up the technology in 11 countries.
This recognition is another feather in the cap of the food safety champions and also portrays IITA’s continuous commitment to make the African continent food and nutrition secure.
