WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Meridian Institute announces $19.8 million in new funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and $1.6 million USD from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) to support the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA). Through the leadership of the African Union Commission (AUC), and with interest from African and other governments, Regional Economic Communities, the private sector, and civil society leaders from across Africa, a comprehensive, Africa-wide approach to aflatoxin control is being established. This partnership will complement efforts to help small farmers lift themselves out of poverty by advancing projects to control aflatoxin contamination, improve food quality, and increase farmers’ access to markets.
Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring, but highly toxic, substance caused by fungi. The toxin is linked to liver disease and cancer and associated with immune-system suppression, growth retardation, and death in both humans and domestic animals. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 25% of world food crops are affected by aflatoxin, and countries that are situated between 40ºN and 40ºS of the equator all around the globe are most at risk. While aflatoxin control measures are implemented in developed and international markets, many of the 1 billion people who live on less than $1 per day rely on their own agricultural production for their food and livelihoods, which can contain harmful levels of aflatoxin.
To read the full press release, visit the PACA web site.