An integrated adaptive framework for mycotoxin management in African cereals: evidence from a scoping review

Abstract

Mycotoxins threaten food safety, public health, and trade in Africa, where cereals are staple foods largely produced and consumed through informal systems. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on pre- and post-harvest mycotoxin management in African cereal systems and translates it into an integrated adaptive framework for policy and practice. A structured literature search conducted in Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus identified 9,817 records, of which 33 primary studies met the eligibility criteria. The included studies covered interventions across the cereal value chain, including biocontrol, chemical pest management, drying, storage, and processing practices. Biocontrol interventions, particularly atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus products such as Aflasafe reduced aflatoxin levels by 60–100% across the reviewed studies, with long-term field evidence showing that more than 95% of treated grains remained below 20 µg/kg in Nigeria and 75% below 4 µg/kg in Senegal. Bt maize also reduced fumonisin contamination by approximately 74% in South Africa. Post-harvest interventions, including improved drying, hermetic storage, sorting, and HACCP-based processing, achieved variable but substantial reductions, with hand sorting reducing aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1 to less than 6% and 5% of initial levels, respectively, and HACCP-based processing reducing aflatoxins to below 5 µg/kg. However, persistent constraints, including climate variability, limited infrastructure, low awareness, gender inequities, informal market dominance, and fragmented regulatory frameworks, continue to limit large-scale effectiveness. These findings informed an Integrated Adaptive Mycotoxin Management Framework grounded in a One Health perspective to support sustainable mycotoxin risk reduction in African cereals.