International mycotoxin conference. Beijing, China- 19 - 23 May 2014

1. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Scaling-Out
Aflatoxin
Biocontrol in
Africa
Ranajit Bandyopadhyay
IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria
On behalf of the Aflasafe Team
International Mycotoxin Conference,2014:
Perspectives on the Global Prevention and Control of Mycotoxins
Beijing, China, 19-23 May, 2014

2. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Pre-Harvest Problem
Aflatoxin
(ppb)ppb)
Peanut (n = 188) Maize (n = 241)
Distribution (% samples)
> 4 54 70
> 10 41 52
> 20 29 24
Descriptive statistics (ppb)
Minimum < LOD < LOD
Maximum 3487 838
Mean 111 33
LOD = Limit of Detection; 1 ppb
Aflatoxin in Groundnut and Maize at Harvest
Increases in store

3. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
EPA approved 2 products
AF36
Afla-guard
More than
1 million
hectares
treated
annually
in the US!
Production Room
Atoxigenic Strain Manufacturing Facility
Arizona Cotton Research & Protection Council
(Funded and Governed by the Farmers of Arizona),
Phoenix, Arizona
It Works in
Africa Too
Biocontrol Works!

4. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Biocontrol Principles
 In nature, some strains produce a lot
(toxigenic), and others no aflatoxin
(atoxigenic) (Donner, Soil Biol Biochem
2009)
 Atoxigenic strains are already present on
the crop (Atehnkeng et al., IJFM, 2008)
 Increase the frequency of atoxigenic
strains to competitively displace
toxigenic strains (Cotty & Bayman,
Phytopath 1993) to reduce aflatoxin
contamination .
 Atoxigenic strains can be applied without
increasing infection and without
increasing the overall quantity of A. flavus
on the crop or in the environment (Cotty,
Phytopath 1994; Atehnkeng et al., Biological
Control 2014)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0 20 40 60 80 100
AflatoxinB1(ng/gX10,000)
Isolates (%) in Applied Atoxigenic Strain
 Strains move from
field to stores
 Multiple year & crop
carry-over effect
(Jaime & Cotty,
Phytopath 2006)
 We use only native
strains

5. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Strain Selection Criteria
In the laboratory (~5,000 strains):
• Does not produce aflatoxin
• VCG/SSR group with
Wide geographic distribution
No toxigenic member
• Defective in >2 aflatoxin & CPA
genes
• Outcompetes toxigenic strains
After field application:
• Superior capacity to colonize,
multiply and survive in soil
• Superior frequency of isolation
from grains
• Superior capacity to reduce
aflatoxin
8-12 native strains
selected for field tests
4 native strains
formulated into
the final
product

6. Broadcast
@ 10 kg/ha 2-3 weeks
before flowering
Sporulation on moist soil
Spores
Insects
Aflasafe in 5 kg boxes
3-20
days
Wind
Soil
colonization
30-33 grains m-2
Fungal network
in killed grain
How Does aflasafe Work?

7. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Nigeria: Efficacy on Maize
372
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2009 2010 2011 2012
Aflasafe™
Control
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2009 2010 2011 2012
82 94 83 86 82 93 89 90
51 14 199 38 51 14 166 38Fields (#)
Less (%)
At Harvest After Storage
*All means of aflasafe and control pairs significantly different; Student’s t-test (P<0.05)
*
Aflatoxin(ppb)

8. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Area Sample Treatment
Mean
Aflatox
(ppb)
Reduct.
(%)
Mean
Aflatox
(ppb)
Reduct.
(%)
Mean
Aflatox
(ppb)
Reduct.
(%)
Diourbel
Harvest
Treated 1.9
93
6.6
87
3.7
82
Control 29.7 50.1 20.3
Storage
Treated 4.4
86
2.1
91
6.9
81
Control 31.3 22.1 35.5
Nioro
Harvest
Treated 4.4
75
5.6
76
5.4
90
Control 17.6 23.1 55.7
Storage
Treated 3.5
95
2.8
94
11.5
84
Control 52.1 46.7 72.5
*All means of aflasafe treated and control pairs significantly different; Student’s t-test (P<0.05)
Senegal: Efficacy of aflasafe SN01
2010 (n=40) 2011 (n=34) 2012 (n=71)

9. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Bars with same letter within the same
crop/year not significantly different (P<0.05)
Basis of Efficacy: Strain Shift
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Soil Grain Soil Grain
2009 (n = 49) 2010 (n = 14)
Control Treated
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Soil Grain Soil Grain
2009 (n = 2) 2010 (n = 16)
Proportion of 4 aflasafe™ strains in soil before treatment
and grains after harvest in control and treated fields
Aflasafestrains(%)
aa a aa a aa a aa a
b
b b
b
Carry-over of inoculum: 71, 52
and 28% after 1, 2, and 3 years

10. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Kenya: Efficacy of aflasafe KE01™
Area (fields) Control Treated
Reduction
(%)
Hola (n = 20) 885 20 98
Bura (n = 16) 105 7 93
Makueni (n = 15) 85 1 99
Aflatoxin (ppb)
*All means of aflasafe treated and control pairs significantly different; Student’s t-test (P<0.05)
38
20
0
88
60
33
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Treated
Control
Fields (%) above
10 ppb in 3 areas
Fields(%)
Deadly (3,700 ppb & 2,270 ppb)
533 ppb
Hola

11. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Product Development in Africa
Products ready for registration
Products under testing
Strain development in progress
Senegal
Mali
Burkina
Ghana
Nigeria
Kenya
Tanzania
Mozambique
Zambia
Rwanda
Burundi
Uganda
2015
onwards
Benin
Togo
Ivory Coast
Uganda
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Malawi
………..
…………
The Gambia

12. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Challenges
• Aflatoxin is a hidden problem
• Chemical analysis required
• Awareness is low
• Long incubation for expression of
health impacts
• Regulations either non-existent or
poorly enforced
• Market does not usually discriminate
• Demonstration of product value
• Lack of biopesticide manufacturers
The value of a
technology on the
shelf is as much
as the cost of the
space it occupies
on the shelf.
Must translate
knowledge into
usable products
and practices to
benefit people
But……

13. www.iita.orgwww.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Integrated Management
The elements are:
• Technology
• Awareness – entire range of value chain
participants
• Advocacy – regional, national, investors
• Training – farmers, transporters, traders,
regulators, consumers
• Policies – standards, harmonization, trade
• Institutions – regulators, markets, testing,
private sector
• Trade / Markets – food/feed processors,
poultry/fish industry
• Public good – home consumption; urban and
rural markets; government procurement, HGSF

14. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Markets
Doreo Partner analysis
Poultry industry
Export-oriented aggregators
Food processors
Large commercial farmers
Smallholder farmers
Market based
• Poultry feed
• Premium food
market
• Export
• AgResults (Incentive-
cum-market based)
• Public distribution
marketdemandfor
Aflasafe • 60% maize consumed by farmers
• 40% sold in the market

15. Poultry Feeding Study
$3,200 net
profit from
10,000 birds
in 8 weeks
www.iita.orgMycored Europe, 28 May, 2013A member of CGIAR consortium
Aflasafe maize feed
Toxic maize feed

16. G-20 AgResults Aflasafe
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
• Pull mechanism – Aflasafe is one of the first three pilots
• Provides incentives after demonstrating adoption
• Private sector driven, but focused on smallholder groups
• Implementers provide credit, inputs and technical services to
increase yield
• Aflasafe purchased at cost to improve quality
• Maize tested for aflasafe strains; if present in large frequency,
the implementers incentivized with $18.75/ton maize
• Implementers negotiate maize sale at premium
• Project provides aflatoxin awareness, training of
implementers, and identifies potential market linkages
• Target: 260,000 tons in 4 years

17. AgResults Aflasafe Pilot -- 2013
www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Some key statistics
• Number of implementers: 4
• Number of farmers: 1,015
• Treated area: 1,457 ha
• Average productivity: 4.3 tons/ha
• Maize aggregated for sale: 2,031 tons
• Samples with <4 ppb AF (n = 660): 99%
• Mean recovery of aflasafe strains from
samples (n = 88): 72% to 89%
• Samples with >70% aflasafe strains
(n = 88): 65% to 100%
• Aflasafe maize kept for family (n = 60): 46%

18. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Aflasafe Return on Investment
Quantity
sold
(tons)
Premium
(%)
Premium
(USD)
Aflasafe
cost
(USD)
Finance
cost
(USD)
Net
profit
(USD)
Seasonal
RoI
AgResults
Premium
(USD)
Total
Profit
(USD)
Total
RoI
120.0 7.5% 3,000 836 146 2,017 241% 1,800 3,817 456%
150.0 7.5% 3,750 1,046 183 2,521 241% 2,250 4,771 456%
96.0 3.6% 1,200 669 117 414 62% 1,440 1,854 277%
128.0 13.2% 5,600 892 156 4,552 510% 1,920 6,472 725%
32.0 7.5% 800 223 39 538 241% 480 1,018 456%
30.1 1.8% 188 210 37 -58 -28% 452 393 187%

19. Irrespective of the implementer, Aflasafe-
treated maize had consistently high mean
recovery rates. Four batches were
sampled by Kano CADP, nine batches by
Kaduna CADP, two batches by Maslaha,
and four batches by Babban Gona. Prize
amounts were awarded by a multiplier of
$18.75 applied to each MT of maize
aggregated.
All implementers witnessed high levels of Aflasafe
21
Implementer Quantity of Maize
Aggregated per
Sample (MT)
Aflasafe % Prize Prize
Amount
($)
Maslaha 69.8 88 Yes 1,309
67 89 Yes 1,256
136.8 2,565
Kano CADP 60 95.5 Yes 1,125
30.9 92.5 Yes 579
38.2 82.5 Yes 716
13.2 78 Yes 248
142.3 2,668
Kaduna CADP 30.2 67 Yes* 566
30.6 40 No -
30.3 31 No -
31.2 68 Yes* 585
60.3 85 Yes 1,131
30.1 68 Yes* 564
120.0 72 Yes 2,250
218.9 73 Yes 4,104
80.7 96 Yes 1,513
632.0 10,713
Babban Gona 120.0 86 Yes 2,250
210.0 73 Yes 3,938
300.0 73 Yes 5,625
150.0 95 Yes 2,813
780.0 14,625
Grand Total 1691.4 30,571
*Premiums are awarded for 70% +/-5%
Aflasafe recovery rates

20. The above reflects data collected by the four implementers from 60 households. Altogether, 39% of the total
yield by 60 farmers under the four implementers was kept for consumption at the household level. Kaduna
CADP was the only case in which a majority of maize was consumed, rather than sold.
55%
45%
76%
62%
45%
55%
24%
38%
Babban Gona Kaduna CADP Kano CADP Maslaha
% Sold % Consumed
Most smallholders sold the majority of Aflasafe-treated
maize produced
Commercial Behavior of Maize Producers
22

21. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Scaling-Out
• Nigeria: AgResults (260,000 t)
• Senegal: Area-wide treatment in
2013; about 8 tons used
• Kenya: Government buy-in;
excellent support
• Zambia: Large-scale efficacy tests
and demonstration of product
value with private sector (12 t)
• Need for business plan,
manufacturing capacity,
marketing and distribution
strategies
• Critical role of PACA and RECs
Coming in 2014-2015…
The Gambia, Benin,
Togo, Ivory Coast,
Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi, Ethiopia, South
Sudan, Malawi

22. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Aflasafe Manufacturing Facility
Large-scale: capacity 5 tons/hour

23. • Aflatoxins in food and feed pervasive
in Africa
• Biological control, as the foundation,
with other practices can dramatically
reduce aflatoxin contamination and
improve food safety and security
• Efforts underway to pilot
commercialization of aflatoxin
biocontrol and develop regional
strains
• The pilots need to be up-scaled and
efforts to improve efficacy needs a
fillip for wide-spread impact on
health and trade in Africa
Summary

24. IITA
Tucson
USDA/ARS
IITA, USDA, & Doreo have Teamed up to Bring
Aflatoxin Prevention to Africa
Made Possible by Many National Partners in Ministries, Industry, and on the Farm
Nigeria
For more information about aflatoxin biocontrol for Africa, check out: www.aflasafe.com