Managing aflatoxin contamination threats in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production in Ghana: The role of adoption of management strategies

Abstract

Efforts to raise knowledge and awareness of smallholder groundnut farmers about aflatoxin contaminations and its management continue to pose a threat to consumers health along the food value chain. This paper examines smallholder farmers' awareness and adoption of aflatoxin management strategies using a multistage sampling technique to sample 318 groundnut farmers in Ghana. A 5-point Likert scale and Kendall's coefficient of concordance was used to examine the perception about aflatoxin contaminations and constraints faced in managing aflatoxins in groundnut production, respectively. A multivariate probit model was further employed to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of aflatoxin management strategies. The results revealed that 92% of the farmers were aware of aflatoxin contaminations, however, only 20.7% of the farmers had received aflatoxins training. The results also showed that farmers are in agreement about aflatoxin contaminations in groundnut production. The most commonly adopted aflatoxin management strategies by farmers were timely harvesting, crop rotation, sorting, and storage in aerated and covered environment. Furthermore, the empirical results showed that education, credit access, membership in farmer based organizations, distance to farm, off-farm activity and location had a significant influence on farmers' adoption of all aflatoxin management strategies. Pest and disease incidence, and rainfall variability were identified as major constraints faced by smallholder groundnut farmers in Ghana. There is the need for periodic public sensitizations and technical capacity building of smallholder farmers to adopt aflatoxins management strategies which could improve groundnut productivity and ensure food security in Ghana.