Aflatoxin awareness and food security among smallholder farmers in Tanzania

Aflatoxin highly affects food security and income among smallholder farmers. Consumption of aflatoxin contaminated grains or meat, milk and eggs from animals fed with contaminated food causes serious health problems to humans. The aim of this study was to uncover the effects of aflatoxin awareness on food security among smallholder farmers in Tanzania. Awareness theory reviewed rendered the study to use fuzzy cognitive map, with a mixture of observed and unobserved variables. A mixture of latent and observed variables made structural equation modeling an appropriate model for the analysis. Methodological triangulation approach with both quantitative and qualitative analysis was applied, since the study inquired opinions from farmers. Stratified sampling technique was used to get two agro ecological regions of Shinyanga and Morogoro, due to their climatic differences. Each region was represented by one district represented by one division. From the division, two wards were selected and from each ward, two villages were selected. In each village, two hamlets were selected, making a total of 8 villages and 16 Hamlets. The sample size of 384 farmers, calculated using Cochran for unknown population, was unequally distributed in each hamlet. The survey revealed that for many farmers, it was the first time to hear about aflatoxin. After a visual illustration, farmers realized that aflatoxin was not uncommon to them. Unlike economic effects, very few farmers knew the health effects of aflatoxin. Some farmers used contaminated stock for consumption, animal feed or making alcohol. Nevertheless, a large number of these farmers did not know what caused aflatoxin during plant growth. They were highly knowledgeable on the causes of aflatoxin during storage. The findings show that aflatoxin awareness has a positive and significant influence on crop quality and hence, food security. As was the opinion from many farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with other development stakeholders, should give high priority to aflatoxin awareness campaigns.