In the fight against aflatoxin contamination and its devastating effects on human health and food security, storage is a critical battleground. Although grain is initially contaminated in the field, aflatoxin can grow at alarming rates during storage, rapidly increasing the concentration of toxin and exposure over time, as maize is incrementally taken out of storage for a family’s own consumption or sold into the market for others to purchase.
This brief explores hermetic storage’s important role with respect to aflatoxin, while also highlighting its relevance to other critical development concerns such as reducing post-harvest losses and supporting commercial solutions. It presents four evidence-based benefits of hermetic storage, building on the investments of USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Kenya through the AflaSTOP program.
