What this Project is about

Maize and milk are foods that are very accepted and frequently consumed by the African population. Unfortunately, both staple foods, cattle feed and milk, have been found to be frequently and heavily contaminated with aflatoxins, and people are constantly exposed to levels far above the recommended limits. AflaZ aims to contribute to improving food safety and quality standards of milk, maize and their products in Kenya, as a model region for sub-Saharan Africa, through the development of rapid, effective and sustainable methods for monitoring, analysing and reducing fungal and aflatoxin contamination in the field and during storage. Intensive knowledge exchange and effective communication between scientists, stakeholders and the public are prerequisites for effective communication and behaviour change. Therefore, AflaZ, in collaboration with local institutions, will undertake extensive capacity building activities involving farmers, students and other stakeholders to ensure sustainable knowledge transfer and cultural acceptance of the recommendations, thus enabling effective integration of the methods by the local population.