A review on the Effects of Climate Change on occurrence of Aflatoxin and its impacts on Food Security in Semi-Arid Areas of Kenya

Abstract

There are adverse impacts by the changing climate o n the agricultural sector; Kenya’s back borne may exacerbate the challenges of ensuring food safety a nd security, and reducing poverty in Africa as a whole. Understanding how climate change scenarios w ill affect agriculture is essential in ensuring future food security. In this paper whose objective was to review the potential impact of climate chan ge on important mycotoxins that contaminate maize in Ke nya, it focused on climatic factors: temperature and relative humidity, which affect fungal infectio n of crops and mycotoxin production by these fungi. Aflatoxins are potent mycotoxins that cause immune weakening, cancer and even death. Aflatoxin contamination causes significant loss for farmers, businessmen, marketers and consumers of varied susceptible crops. Climate change alters the comple x communities of aflatoxin-producing fungi. This includes changes in space, time and in the quantity of aflatoxin-producers. Generally, if the temperat ure increases in cool or temperate climates, the respec tive countries may become more susceptible to aflatoxins. However, tropical countries may become too inhospitable for conventional fungal growth and mycotoxin production. Although some regions can afford to control the environment of storage facilities to minimize post-harvest problems, this h appens at high additional cost.