Interventions to Decrease Mycotoxin Risks

Producer and Consumer Interventions to Decrease Peanut Mycotoxin Risk in Ghana

How do technology and economic incentives work together to prevent aflatoxin contamination of crops?

Researchers are giving a randomly selected group of farmers in Ghana the materials and information with the best potential to prevent aflatoxin development in crops.

At the market-level, the project works with local groundnut buyers to offer a premium for groundnuts that pass a safety criteria. Producers are made aware of the potential customers for safe groundnuts, and what the standards are to qualify for the price premium.

Since women constitute more than 48% of the agricultural labor force in Ghana and buy groundnuts to make paste and extract oil, questionnaires and interventions consider gender differences. In this way, scientists attempt to capture the gender dynamic around reasons why or why not individuals or households adopt measures to control aflatoxin.