Scaling Aflasafe: From lab-based innovation to large-scale aflatoxin mitigation across Africa

By Alejandro Ortega-Beltran

Aflatoxin contamination remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), threatening food and feed safety, public health, and trade. Farmers, industries, and policymakers need effective, scalable solutions to protect staple crops such as maize, groundnut, and sorghum from aflatoxin.

One of the most promising innovations is biocontrol using native, atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strains—applied in the field to outcompete toxin-producing fungi. While small-scale trials in Nigeria over 15 years ago demonstrated its potential, scaling up Aflasafe required overcoming significant manufacturing and commercialization barriers.

Status of Aflasafe product development, testing, and registration across Africa. Countries where Aflasafe factories are available or under construction are indicated.

A recently published article documents how Aflasafe biocontrol products evolved from lab-based research to industrial-scale production, enabling widespread use across SSA. By refining manufacturing processes, developing fit-to-scale production models, and strengthening commercialization strategies, IITA has facilitated the production of thousands of tons of biocontrol products—leading to over a million tons of aflatoxin-safe crops.

Along with partners, the technology has been developed, registered, and transferred to private sector partners in Senegal, Tanzania, and Mozambique, as well as to the public/private sector in Kenya. Product development, testing, registration, and transference are currently at different stages in 23 SSA countries (Fig. 1). Aflasafe technology belongs to the first generation of non-seed technologies of CGIAR to transition successfully from laboratory prototypes to industry applications benefiting farmers and consumers at scale.

Manufacturing facilities constructed by HarvestField Industries Limited in Nigeria (A, B), BAMTAARE SA in Senegal (C), A to Z Textiles Limited in Tanzania (D), and Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in Kenya (E). Other facilities have been constructed in Mozambique by AflaLivre, in DR Congo and Burundi through World Bank projects, while facilities are being constructed in Sierra Leone and Madagascar through World Bank projects.

This progress underscores the power of effective collaboration among research institutions, private-sector firms, and policymakers. Strengthening public-private partnerships, CGIAR-led research-for-development initiatives, and private-sector investment in manufacturing and distribution (Fig. 2) has been critical to overcoming barriers and accelerating adoption.

The key lesson? Innovation alone is insufficient; scaling solutions like Aflasafe requires developing industrial processes, strategic partnerships, effective commercialization strategies, and sustained investment. As climate change exacerbates aflatoxin risks, urgent action is needed to expand adoption and build resilient food safety systems.

Read the full story in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems: The challenge of industrialization of a nature-based solution that allows farmers to produce aflatoxin-safe crops in various African countries.