Posted on January, 11, 2023 at 09:57 am
The government has allocated Sh80 billion to execute programs aimed at controlling the impact of aflatoxin in the country.
The funds have been allocated through projects implemented in five years (2019-2024) by the Tanzania Initiative for Preventing Aflatoxin Contamination (TANIPAC).
The country strategies were revealed yesterday during a meeting involving TANIPAC and media stakeholders from different houses in the country.
Speaking during the event, TANIPAC coordinator, Mr Clepine Josephat said the fund would be directed towards the implementation of different projects.
“Some of the funds will be used for implementing infrastructure development projects such as construction of modern silos, warehouses and laboratories,” he said.
He said 400 youths have received training that would enable them to construct 20 silos in every district during implementation.
Furthermore, he said TANIPAC was also executing a project to construct modern warehouses, allowing other players, especially the private sector, to adapt to projects implemented by TANIPAC.
Mr Josephat also said the project had three main objectives which are improving food production, public health and national economy through increased exports of food produce.
According to him, the project is implemented through building primary infrastructures, institutional strengthening as well as provision of education and awareness raising among stakeholders.
Districts that will benefit from construction of modern warehouses are Chemba, Kiteto, Kasulu, Buchosa and Bukombe.
“Through the project, the government is going to build a laboratory that will be used for studying biological disease-causing organisms that affect agriculture,” he said.
The project is jointly funded by the Tanzania government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).
Speaking during the event, a lecturer from the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), Dr Happy Magoha said aflatoxins affect staple food crops such as maize and groundnuts.
A report issued by the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology in 2016 indicates that Tanzania is losing over $264 million due to aflatoxins.
However, it states that what makes mycotoxin difficult to control is the fact that the chain through which it is spread is wide.
Contamination in crops starts in farmyards, where the fungi, which live in the soil, produce the harmful chemical which goes through storage and then on to consumers.
These substances are linked to cancer of the oesophagus, which is the tube that connects the throat to the stomach, (alimentary canal).
It is also associated with stunting in children, suppression of the immune system, liver diseases and ultimately death.
The damage to children who feed on staples contaminated by mycotoxin is irreversible.
They suffer both mental and physical health effects that they have to live with for the rest of their lives.
Source: The Citizen