POISONED CHALICE: TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN CROPS IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE Integrated approaches to meet the challenge
As farmers and consumers the world over face increasing challenges to boost food production, an aggressive strategy to safeguard agricultural yields in drought-prone areas is an essential part of efforts to safely feed the world’s growing population. Mitigation strategies are being resolved, tested, and scaled up. These efforts must be significantly expanded and accelerated to secure a safe harvest for current and future generations.33
National and regional agricultural systems – from research to extension to policy and regulatory – must be engaged and strengthened to sustainably address these complex challenges at appropriate intervention points. A number of critical elements are lacking today that can be addressed through such strategically inclusive and integrated research for development systems.
1. Building the evidence base for the prevalence and human health implication of various toxins, particularly for long- term exposure to sub-acute levels of toxins in the diet.
2. Recognising the interactions between animal health, human health, and the environment and addressing the issue in the context of One Health and EcoHealth approaches.
3. Characterizing and modelling the factors affecting toxins’ accumulation in different crops, and identifying mitigation measures that are effective, adoptable, and scalable within different farming and agroecological systems.
4. Prospecting existing or traditional on-farm practices for solutions.
5. Reducing production and postharvest risk with best practice interventions.
6. Using risk assessment and mapping to predict contamination hotspots and assess mitigation options.
7. Advancing and deploying mobile testing, and incentivizing farmers by providing an alternative-use market for contaminated products where possible.
8. Continuing research to continually evolve options to produce a sufficient and safe harvest in marginal areas around the world.
60 © UNEP
Technology solutions must work in concert with stakeholder consultations and be supported by agricultural field extension in rural communities. Appropriate and effective capacity building at various levels must underpin intervention deployment. Equipped with a rapidly increasing understanding of the hidden dangers of crop production under changing climate, we must work to secure a sufficient and safe harvest for all.
Video: Intiatives to tackle the aflatoxin contamination in Africa
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