Feed the Future MalawiAflasafe

Progress thus far

IITA: Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, Joseph Atehnkeng, Juliet Akello

DARS: Misheck Soko

USDA-ARS: Peter Cotty

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Background • USAID currently funding projects to develop aflasafe

products in Mozambique and Zambia

• Atoxigenic strains already identified in Moz. and Zambia.

• The proposed project will fill the gap of developing regional aflasafe products for use in the Nacala corridor.

• The regional products will contain strains that co-occur naturally in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

• Considerable synergies and complementarities among the biocontrol development efforts in these countries

• Development of biocontrol in Malawi is endorsed by MAPAC, COMESA and PACA to augment regional trade and improve health and nutrition of people in Nacala corridor.

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

MAPAC • Proposed biocontrol project is a part of “Component 1:

Mainstreaming (integrating) good practice and technologies in maize and groundnuts value chains”

• MAPAC also includes development of resistance/tolerance to aflatoxins, drying storage systems, groundnut shelling, alternate uses of contaminated products, testing, Standards & Policies; and Public Awareness, Advocacy & Education.

• To retain focus, this project will only concentrate on aspects related to development, commercialization and adoption of biocontrol in Malawi.

• It is hoped that other donors and institutions will invest resources on the remaining aspects of MAPAC

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Objectives of the project • quantify the scale of the aflatoxin problem in groundnut and

maize at harvest, in farmers’ stores, warehouses and markets;

• develop a commercially-ready biological control of aflatoxins to reduce groundnut and maize crop contamination;

• demonstrate product utility in crop value chain, develop business plan, guide commercialization opportunities (including product manufacturing) and steer guidelines for intellectual property management;

• enhance technical capacity of national partners, extension services, farmers, and other actors in the groundnut and maize value chains to incorporate aflatoxin biocontrol in integrated management to minimize aflatoxin contamination.

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Areas of Emphasis

• Partnership development; e.g., implementation

• Research – Surveillance and biocontrol development

– Less emphasis on RESEARCH on integrated management and awareness, BUT these approaches will be used in Years 3 and 4 for commercialization, stewardship activities

• Capacity development

• Regulatory

• Value chain linkages; e.g., farmers & end-users

• Business plans, IP & commercialization

• Impact assessment

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Atoxigenic Strain Identification

Collection/characterization Toxin assay

Field

efficacy

test

Lab

competition

assay

VCG/DNA characterization

cnx nia-D

Unknown 2

+

www.iita.org A 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

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Regional Biocontrol Product

Steps in product development • Crop (maize and groundnut) sample for strain collection

– Zambia (completed)

– Mozambique (completed)

– Malawi (this project)

• Strain characterization and atoxigenic strain identification

• Assessment of national strain collection to identify regional strains

• Field trials involving further strain identification, product refinement and efficacy testing

• Pre-registration of atoxigenics.

• IP, manufacturing, product stewardship, business plan development

• Final registration of biocontrol product and initial development of demand

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Extensive Lab work

www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

Current Status

• 402 Crop samples (205 maize & 197 groundnut) from 67 EPAs in 22 Districts in 3 zones; Aug/Sep 2014 by DARS and IITA

• Target number of Aspergillus germplasm: 4824

• Available germplasm until now: 106 atoxigenic isolates identified among 3,286 isolates obtained.

• Comparisons with Mozambique and Zambia strain collection

• Five candidates applied and three interviewed for a PhD studentship

• One DARS staff identified for 3-month-long training in Ibadan

• Selection of Project Manager and M&E specialist on 30 April

• Project on track

Thank you