Aflatoxin contamination in peanut kernel is a crucial matter you must know. Aflatoxin can cause severe reactions and even can bring death to a living creature. The peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a significant crop in Malawi and Zambia.
Peanut kernel
In cereal-based cropping systems, the crop is valued for its ability to build soil, improve the livelihoods of agricultural households who eat and sell it, and generate foreign exchange when exported. Research and development efforts have led to increases in the output and production area for peanuts. However, producing peanuts with acceptable levels of aflatoxin contamination is still a major challenge in many countries. 
According to the statistics, aflatoxin is an issue in both legal and illegal trade. As a result, unlike thirty years ago, the majority of the peanut trade has moved to local and regional markets that do not forbid the selling of peanuts tainted with aflatoxin. Aflatoxin contamination's negative health impacts and total management costs have not been sufficiently documented. There are several technologies available to reduce aflatoxin contamination. The advantages, restrictions, and flaws of these technologies are evaluated. Although there is no evidence of long-term success, Malawi and Zambia continue to invest a lot of effort and money toward reducing aflatoxin contamination. The likelihood of eliminating aflatoxin at the home and commercial levels shortly is dim based on prior and current efforts. A key crop in Malawi and Zambia, where smallholder farmers produce more than 90% of the entire amount, is peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), sometimes known as peanut (Derlagen and Phiri 2012; Mofya-Mukuka and Shipekeza 2013). The crop's importance is based on its capacity to enhance the livelihoods of agricultural households who consume it as part of their diet and sell it for cash, as well as to provide foreign exchange when exported, in cereal-based cropping systems. With a combined 4.2% of Africa's total peanut-producing land, Malawi (373,925 ha) and Zambia (237,423 ha) are ranked fourteenth and seventeenth, respectively, on the continent (FAOSTAT 2017). Initiatives in research and development have improved the area used for peanut cultivation as well as their productivity. Between 1994 and 2014, the productivity of the crop (kg/ha shelled) grew in Malawi from 240 to 595, and in Zambia from 306 to 454 (FAOSTAT 2017). Production is still thought to be subpar despite the increase. With rain-fed production of more than 2,000 kg/ha, yields are not reaching their potential due to poor agronomic practices (such as delayed planting at the start of the rainy season low plant densities per ha, inadequate weed control, intercropping, and delayed harvesting). little or no disease and insect pest management, drought stress, and cultivation of low yielding local varieties (Mpiri 1994; Ngulube et al. 2001; Siambi et al. Technologies for boosting productivity are available. It is still very difficult to grow peanuts in these nations with acceptable levels of aflatoxin contamination for both the more controlled formal markets. perhaps more crucially, for the unregulated black markets and domestic consumption from subsistence farming (Matumba et al. 2016; Monyo et al. 2012; Njoroge et al. 2013, 2016b, 2017; Seetha et al. 2017). 
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A key barrier to the safe use of peanuts, a crop sought for its oil, protein, amino acids, and micronutrients, is the presence of aflatoxin contamination, which was discovered more than 50 years ago. Aflatoxins prevent nutrients from being absorbed in the gastrointestinal system (Wild, 2007), and young infants who are exposed to aflatoxin exposure often may experience stunted development (Gong et al. 2002, 2003; Magoha et al. 2014). Excellent overviews of the effects of aflatoxin on human health are provided by Williams et al. (2004) and Wild (2007). I'll talk about the prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in peanuts at the outset of this essay. This information will show that aflatoxin is still a problem in both legal and illegal trade. The bulk of the peanut trade has moved to local and regional markets that do not prohibit the sale of aflatoxin-contaminated peanuts, as opposed to thirty years ago, I also explore the continued consequences of aflatoxin contamination on the peanut trade. Aflatoxin regulations are also starting to be implemented by regional markets, which will have a substantial impact on the peanut industry. Although we can show how aflatoxin affects official export trade, we are unsure of the exact cost of contamination. Hidden costs would include those associated with handling aflatoxin contamination, including those associated with prevention, cleanup, or reprocessing, costs associated with rejected produce, costs associated with diminished value, and eventually costs associated with the health effects of exposure. The impacts on health are not well understood, and both in Malawi and Zambia, this area of study is still in its early stages. On the other hand, studies on the consequences of aflatoxin exposure on the health of regional countries that trade peanuts with Malawi and Zambia have been published. As we gain more knowledge about aflatoxin's harmful health impacts, these importing countries may eventually implement stronger limits on aflatoxin-contaminated foods. Aflatoxin was found in breast milk and foods consumed by young children, according to other studies (Magoha et al. 2014; Shirima et al. 2013) on aflatoxin exposure in Tanzanian neonates and children. According to evidence of health effects in Tanzania, a recent aflatoxicosis outbreak in the Dodoma and Manyara areas resulted in the deaths of 19 people (PACA 2016). In Kenya, several studies on the prevalence of aflatoxin exposure have been conducted (Azziz-Baumgartner et al. 2005; Obura 2013). 125 people died in Kenya's most severe aflatoxicosis pandemic in 2004 after consuming contaminated maize (Azziz-Baumgartner et al. 2005; Lewis et al. 2005). In this paper, methods for reducing aflatoxin contamination are examined. Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, as well as challenges to their use and knowledge gaps. New strategies are gaining traction, such as biological management using nontoxic strains of Aspergillus flavus (Bandyopadhyay and Cotty 2013; Bandyopadhyay et al. 2016; Fravel 2005). African farmers are provided with the biocontrol method as a fundamental technology that should be reinforced by other aflatoxin mitigation efforts (Bandyopadhyay et al. 2016). This method's efficacy and potential risks are also mentioned. 
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Even though there isn't enough proof of long-term success, Malawi, Zambia, and other African countries continue to invest substantial time and resources in reducing aflatoxin contamination. Is this due to a lack of suitable incentives for farmers and processors to use aflatoxin mitigation strategies? Who should provide funding for aflatoxin control is the final question in this section. The majority of the cost of aflatoxin control in wealthy countries like the United States is borne by those who buy raw nuts from farmers and shell them (Wu 2014). Are smallholder farmers in Malawi and Zambia able to afford the expenses of aflatoxin control? The odds of eliminating aflatoxin at the domestic level and in international trade shortly are slim based on previous and ongoing efforts. It is vital to place a monetary value on peanuts of lower quality that may be used for safe alternative uses to provide an incentive to remove contaminated peanuts from the human food chain. In a supportive environment made possible by updated and implemented government rules, the private sector must offer incentives to farmers for higher-quality harvests and create financially viable alternative end-use options for peanuts of lower quality. The majority of peanut growers, smallholder farmers, and players in the under- and over-regulated peanut trade must be allowed to embrace alternatives. Aflatoxin Contamination Signs and Symptoms A produces poisons that resemble aflatoxins. A and flavus are related. parasiticus, which are frequent contaminants of oilseed crops like peanut, corn, cottonseed, and sunflower as well as other crops like sorghum, rice, and paprika (Amaike and Keller 2011; Craufurd et al. 2006; Diener et al. 2012; Njoroge et al. 2016b; Okoth et al. 2012). (Amaike and Keller 2011; Diener et al. 1987; Hendrickse 1997; Horn et al. 1995; Matumba et al. 2015a; Mutegi et al. 2009; Njoroge et al. 2013, 2016b, 2017; Okoth et al. 2012; Seetha et al. 2017; Siambi et al. 2007). The early 1960s saw the discovery of aflatoxins when more than 100,000 turkey poults died after consuming contaminated peanut meal, which was later found to contain aflatoxins. 
Aflatoxins are a restricted food hazard since it has been determined that they are hazardous to human health (Azziz-Baumgartner et al. 2008; Hendrickse 1997; Lewis et al. 2015; Williams et al. 2004; Wu 2014). Regulations for allowable levels of aflatoxin have been developed in more than 100 countries (Wu 2014). Data on the prevalence of aflatoxin contamination are essential for practical research into their impacts on health and effective mitigation (Wild et al. 2015). In Malawi and Zambia, as well as the regional market destinations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, there are ongoing reports of aflatoxin contamination in peanuts and related products along the value chain (Table 1). Despite continued efforts to manage it via research and development, aflatoxin contamination along the peanut value chain is still a major threat, according to published sources. The focus of the first publications on the prevalence of aflatoxin contamination was on quantifying export trade losses (Babu et al. 1994). Then came reports on actions taken to prevent aflatoxin contamination along the whole value chain. Aflatoxin contamination control procedures that helped Malawian farmers regain market access in the European Union were described by Siambi et al. in a 2007 publication. Reports on domestic consumption of contaminated products (Bumbangi et al. 2016; Kachapulula et al. 2017; Monyo et al. 2012; Njoroge et al. ) and the general public's ignorance of aflatoxin contamination did not start to become more prevalent until much later (Matumba et al. 2017; Njoroge et al. 2016b, 2017). The outbreak of aflatoxicosis in Kenya in 2004, which resulted in the deaths of more than 125 individuals after eating contaminated maize, may have spurred the decision to deliberately concentrate on local aflatoxin contamination levels along the value chain (Lewis et al. 2005). Numerous studies on the current levels of aflatoxin contamination have been published since then. Additionally, recent studies have looked at the frequency of aflatoxin contamination in various agro-ecologies, markets, sample kinds, and seasonal variations (Bumbangi et al. 2016; Kachapulula et al. 2017; Monyo et al. 2012; Njoroge et al. 2016b, 2017; Seetha et al. 2017). Less research has been published on the frequency of human exposure to aflatoxins in Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania (Azziz-Baumgartner et al. 2005; Magoha et al. 2014; Obura 2013; Seetha et al. 2018; Shirima et al. 2013). There are no statistics on the prevalence of animal exposure to aflatoxins. 