Institut für ökologische Chemie, Pflanzenanalytik und Vorratsschutz
The SoLFOOD project aims at improving the maize production chain at small-holder scales in Kenya by 1) evaluating local and traditional measures using plant/soil mycobiome and mycotoxin analyses to improve soil/plant quality and resistance; 2) investigating the use of plant waste/insect frass, microorganisms and soil elements as fertilizer and elicitors of resistance in different maize varieties; 3) investigating the use of specialized fungi to degrade aflatoxin content by fermentation of contaminated maize resulting in a safe maize-based food with improved nutritional value; and 4) investigating the use of aflatoxin contaminated maize as feed for edible insects to generate insect protein for fish feed production. Knowledge exchange among scientists, farmers, and regional stakeholders in an inter- and transdisciplinary context is key for developing a comprehensive proposal that enables the consortium to accomplish the four aforementioned tasks and for developing suitable tools for behaviour change and resilience strategies on farms and households when it comes to aflatoxin intake reduction.SoLFOOD’s approach is considering different points of the thematic focus of the BLE-call: Soil health/fertility/protection, integrated farming systems, traditionally used, neglected, underutilized -plant species, substantial reduction of food loss by biological, sustainable decontamination strategies and the production of alternative food and feed improving food security by working on the following objectives: A: Soil and plant quality: Development and evaluation of new and innovative climate-change friendly methods to sustainably improve soil quality and plant resilience, complementing traditional knowledge and cultivation of maize. B: Biomass reutilization: Development and evaluation of reutilization strategies for aflatoxin-contaminated maize at local and semi-industrial scale, improving its safety and nutritional value by fungal fermentation and by use as insect feed. C: Knowledge transfer: Deepening the networks for knowledge exchange between farmers, African institutions and German and African scientists already established in the AflaZ FK: 2816PROC12 project to improve accessibility to knowledge, generate local competencies for self-sufficiency measures and self-management at the level of smallholder farmers and to reduce aflatoxin contamination and exposure of the local population.The aim of WPA3 is to secure plant quality by identifying maize varieties with antifungal properties in the context of climate change. As an outcome recommendations on how to choose more resistant maize varieties for local farmers in Kenya will be provided. Sub-Saharan-Africa maize suffers from being exposed to drought and heat as well as to insect damage and fungal infestations by Aspergillus and other pathogens. Resistance to both biotic and abiotic factors is relatively common among maize landraces and potentially useful variability exists including for aflatoxin resistance. Sources of resistance to Aspergillus ear rot and aflatoxin accumulation are more likely to exist in maize adapted to tropical and subtropical regions because of exposure to greater disease pressure. Identified resistant maize accessions have the potential to contribute to the development of commercially acceptable, aflatoxin-resistant maize hybrids and/or open-pollinated varieties. The aim of WPA4 is to enhance plant defence by identifying plant extracts, microorganisms, and soil amendments to enhance the antifungal properties of maize in the context of climate change. The results will reveal recommendations for local farmers in Kenya on applying locally available methods to reduce fungal infection pre-harvest and to enhance the yield of mycotoxin-free maize. Extracts from plants growing in the surrounding of Kenyan fields can be used by farmers to directly reduce fungal growth and aflatoxin contamination. Plant extracts can also contribute indirectly to protection by inducing antifungal defences in maize. This induction can also be elicited by specific soil organisms, soils or soil elements. Moreover, when treating the soil with insect frass, or fungi-fermented maize as biocontrol, the components might also change the metabolome of maize favourably to reduce fungal growth and Aflatoxin concentration.
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
