NEW SCIENTIFIC PAPER DISCUSSES AFLATOXIN CONTROL WITH SAFER POSTHARVEST PRACTICES

In human beings, high aflatoxin levels depress the immune system, thereby contributing to many health problems ranging from cancer and susceptibility to HIV, to stunted growth among children. This led governments in Africa to band together to stop the spread of Aflatoxins in the continent. At an October 2016 meeting with the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), Ugandan President, H.E. Yoweri Museveni called for a collective effort among African countries to address aflatoxin challenges.

However, improved postharvest handling remains the most overlooked component for effectively preventing aflatoxin growth. In hot, humid climates, long term conventional storage can cause exponential growth of aflatoxins. It shows that restricting the increase in aflatoxin levels during both drying and storage is a major challenge, particularly under hot and humid conditions.

An increasingly popular and inexpensive alternative method for controlling aflatoxin growth during multi-month storage is using flexible, Ultra Hermetic™ storage containers. This storage technology relies on creating a conditions that will control increase in aflatoxin levels through the bio-generation of low oxygen levels. For the successful application of Ultra Hermetic storage as well as for other storage methods, crops must be adequately dried, typically to a point below their ―critical moisture level (in equilibrium with 65% relative humidity).

This paper examines the prevention of the exponential growth of aflatoxin occurring in multi-month, postharvest storage in tropical countries, with examples from field experience and scientific data. Four approaches to modern, safe, postharvest storage methods are described, the most successful being the use of flexible, Ultra Hermetic™ airtight structures creating an unbreathable atmosphere (low oxygen, high carbon dioxide) through insect and microorganism respiration alone, without use of chemicals, fumigants, vacuum, or refrigeration.

WFP MALAWI SIGNS PARTNERSHIP TO PILOT HERMETIC GRAIN STORAGE

The World Food Program (WFP) is working with GrainPro® to pilot the use of Ultra Hermetic grain storage solutions in Malawi, according to the latest WFP Country Brief released on May 31, 2017. This pilot is in line with ongoing WFP efforts to break the cycle of food insecurity and poverty in the African country.

GrainPro is among technology developers working closely with WFP to help achieve its global food security goals.

Malawi, a small and land-locked country in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, is facing critical food and nutrition security issues. The country’s population explosion – expanding by 3 percent each year – and recent drops in agricultural production leave most Malawians in poverty and without food. 

GrainPro is among technology developers working closely with  WFP to help achieve its global food security goals. 

GrainPro and its local representative, Chemicals and Marketing, will train at least 60 WFP-beneficiary farmer organizations in 15 districts in the use of hermetic bags as part of the Purchase for Progress (P4P) program. Additionally, GrainPro will also study the perceptions and demands of the farmers to the effectiveness of hermetic technology.

The training program will include the use of the GrainPro’s Ultra Hermetic™ SuperGrainBag® (SGB), a low-cost and reusable liner bag developed primarily for smallholder farmers. Made from multilayered and recyclable polyethylene with a proprietary barrier layer, the SGB 's has sufficiently low permeability to air and water to stop infestation and inhibit the growth of aflatoxin-producing molds.

P4P is an innovative food security initiative launched in 2008 by WFP that seeks to help smallholder farmers better cope with fluctuations in harvests and household food security by adapting technologies that will reduce postharvest losses. The program is funded with the help of the Flanders International Cooperation Agency, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

One of the goals of the program is to introduce new technologies to smallholder farmers. GrainPro is among technology developers working closely with  WFP to help achieve its global food security goals. The training has commenced with series of workshops in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu with farmers organization leaders, lead farmers extension officers and farmers stakeholders.

SCHOOL KIDS IN HONDURAS ARE BENEFITTING FROM HERMETIC STORAGE

Children in the village of Krausirpi in Honduras are benefitting from rice that was not treated with any harmful chemicals thanks to Ultra Hermetic™ and patented GrainPro® Cocoons™. The Cocoons were delivered on March 2017 and are currently protecting food crops against insects and fungal growth. 

The United Nations’ World Food Programme partnered with GrainPro to store rice as part of a feeding program aimed at local school children. The Cocoons were delivered to the beautiful La Moskitia region – a large wetlands area in Honduras considered by many as the “Amazon” of Central America – using dugout canoes. 

Preserving highly nutritious stocks of staple grains is a serious problem for the locals due to it’s location and the atmospheric conditions in the region. To safely preserve the shelf life and protect staple crops against infestation and fungal contamination, new storage methods – such as the Cocoon – are immediately needed to make an immediate impact.

The Cocoon is a hermetic storage container that comes in various capacities of 5MT to 1050MT. It is made from flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with gastight and watertight properties to prevent the exchange of air and moisture. It effectively preserves and extends the shelf life of dried agricultural commodities using inert gases such as carbon dioxide to kill all insects. This means that the stored food crops won’t have any residues of harmful chemical fumigants.