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Mycotoxin Contamination of Food and its Possible Implications on Sustainable Development in Rungwe District, Tanzania

The potential for mycotoxin contamination of maize to have negative implications on sustainable development was explored using secondary data, with special attention to a report on mycotoxin contamination of maize in Katumba ward, which revealed the existence of extremely high quantities of aflatoxins (0.4 mg/kg), fumonisins (87.7 mg/kg), ochratoxins (0.7 mg/kg) and T-2 toxins (6.2 mg/kg) in stored maize (Mboya et al., 2012). To investigate the heads of farm households’ capacity to understand literature and issues around mycotoxin contamination of food, the same 260 heads of farm households whose maize had been studied for mycotoxin contamination were studied with respect to the number of years that each one of them had spent on obtaining formal education. In addition, the means that the farm households used to control fungi in stored maize were investigated. It was found that 10 % of the farm household heads had no formal education at all, 68.5 % had 1 - 7 years of primary education and 18.8 % had secondary education and only 2.3 % had college education. The mean for the heads of farm households’ years of formal education was 6.57 and standard deviation was 3.08. It was also found that 73 % of the farm households did not use any means of controlling moulds in stored maize, 26.2 % removed the infected maize kernels from the lot and disposed it in the fields. 0.8 % dehulled the maize whenever they noticed that it was being infected by fungi. It was concluded that such high levels of mycotoxins as those found in maize in Katumba ward have capacity to incapacitate people. In turn this would not only thwart the economic growth, but it would also negate the efforts made on sustainable development in the relevant communities. It was also concluded that the low level of formal education of the heads of farm households could possibly lead to the vulnerability of the farm households as a result of the farm households being insufficiently informed concerning issues around food security, particularly concerning mycotoxin contamination of food. Lastly, it was further concluded that the farm householders did not know how to control the development of fungi in stored maize, and that the practice of dumping fungal infected maize kernels in the fields was detrimental to the environment because it created possibilities for the multiplication of pathogenic fungal species in the fields. It was recommended that simple literature, which is compatible with the level of education of farm householders be made available to them, and that educating ordinary people concerning mycotoxins be prioritized.