Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change

A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study was conducted in three districts of Malawi to test whether the training had resulted in increased knowledge and adoption of recommended pre- and post-harvest crop management practices, and their contribution to reducing aflatoxin contamination in ground...

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Autores principales: Anitha, Seetha, Tsusaka, Takuji W., Njoroge, Samuel, Kumwenda, Nelson, Botha, Rosemary
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147327
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author Anitha, Seetha
Tsusaka, Takuji W.
Njoroge, Samuel
Kumwenda, Nelson
Botha, Rosemary
author_browse Anitha, Seetha
Botha, Rosemary
Kumwenda, Nelson
Njoroge, Samuel
Tsusaka, Takuji W.
author_facet Anitha, Seetha
Tsusaka, Takuji W.
Njoroge, Samuel
Kumwenda, Nelson
Botha, Rosemary
author_sort Anitha, Seetha
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study was conducted in three districts of Malawi to test whether the training had resulted in increased knowledge and adoption of recommended pre- and post-harvest crop management practices, and their contribution to reducing aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum. The study was conducted with 900 farmers at the baseline and 624 farmers at the end-line, while 726 and 696 harvested crop samples were collected for aflatoxin testing at the baseline and end-line, respectively. Results show that the knowledge and practice of pre- and post-harvest crop management for mitigating aflatoxin were inadequate among the farmers at the baseline but somewhat improved after the training as shown at the end-line. As a result, despite unfavorable weather, the mean aflatoxin contamination level in their grain samples decreased from 83.6 to 55.8 ppb (p < 0.001). However, it was also noted that increased knowledge did not significantly change farmers’ attitude toward not consuming grade-outs because of economic incentive incompatibility, leaving potential for improving the practices further. This existing gap in the adoption of aflatoxin mitigation practices calls for approaches that take into account farmers’ needs and incentives to attain sustainable behavioral change.
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spelling CGSpace1473272024-10-25T08:06:11Z Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change Anitha, Seetha Tsusaka, Takuji W. Njoroge, Samuel Kumwenda, Nelson Botha, Rosemary crop management sorghum preharvest treatment mycotoxins attitudes groundnuts aflatoxicosis farmers maize aflatoxins postharvest control aflatoxin control behaviour knowledge A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study was conducted in three districts of Malawi to test whether the training had resulted in increased knowledge and adoption of recommended pre- and post-harvest crop management practices, and their contribution to reducing aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum. The study was conducted with 900 farmers at the baseline and 624 farmers at the end-line, while 726 and 696 harvested crop samples were collected for aflatoxin testing at the baseline and end-line, respectively. Results show that the knowledge and practice of pre- and post-harvest crop management for mitigating aflatoxin were inadequate among the farmers at the baseline but somewhat improved after the training as shown at the end-line. As a result, despite unfavorable weather, the mean aflatoxin contamination level in their grain samples decreased from 83.6 to 55.8 ppb (p < 0.001). However, it was also noted that increased knowledge did not significantly change farmers’ attitude toward not consuming grade-outs because of economic incentive incompatibility, leaving potential for improving the practices further. This existing gap in the adoption of aflatoxin mitigation practices calls for approaches that take into account farmers’ needs and incentives to attain sustainable behavioral change. 2019-12-16 2024-06-21T09:13:20Z 2024-06-21T09:13:20Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147327 en Open Access MDPI Anitha, Seetha; Tsusaka, Takuji W.; Njoroge, Samuel; Kumwenda, Nelson; Botha, Rosemary; et al. 2019. Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change. Toxins 11(12): 716. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11120716
spellingShingle crop management
sorghum
preharvest treatment
mycotoxins
attitudes
groundnuts
aflatoxicosis
farmers
maize
aflatoxins
postharvest control
aflatoxin control
behaviour
knowledge
Anitha, Seetha
Tsusaka, Takuji W.
Njoroge, Samuel
Kumwenda, Nelson
Botha, Rosemary
Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title_full Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title_fullStr Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title_short Knowledge, attitude and practice of Malawian farmers on pre- and post-harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum: Implication for behavioral change
title_sort knowledge attitude and practice of malawian farmers on pre and post harvest crop management to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in groundnut maize and sorghum implication for behavioral change
topic crop management
sorghum
preharvest treatment
mycotoxins
attitudes
groundnuts
aflatoxicosis
farmers
maize
aflatoxins
postharvest control
aflatoxin control
behaviour
knowledge
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147327
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