Events

Aflatoxin levels and impacts are expected to increase with higher temperatures and increased water stress, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical climates. Two key avenues to address this challenge include minimizing contamination in the growing cycle through the use of good agricultural practices and by mitigating toxin development in the postharvest supply chain; and reducing the consumption of contaminated food by diversifying the diet to include more fruits, vegetables, legumes, and animal-source foods, thus reducing the dominance of staples in diets, particularly of maize. Clearly women have substantial roles to play in both of these pathways.

In this webinar, panelists from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, Purdue University and an independent consultant will discuss how aflatoxins relate to climate change, gender and nutrition.

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It will specifically address the following questions:

• How might aflatoxin levels change for maize and groundnuts as a result of climate change?
• What are the key nutritional and gendered entry points to address aflatoxins?
• What are ongoing, key USAID interventions to address this challenge?

The webinar is hosted as part of the Gender, Climate Change and Nutrition Integration Initiative which aims to strengthen integration of climate, gender and nutrition interventions and data for more impactful development outcomes of USAID and partner interventions.

This webinar will begin online at 9.30 a.m. EDT, 12 September. Registration is free and required.

Panelists will include:

• Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist, in IFPRI’s Environment and Production Technology Division, will moderate the session.
• Meredith Soule, Technical Division Chief, Bureau for Food Security, will provide a short introduction to GCAN.
• Timothy Thomas, a Research Fellow at IFPRI, will present projections of aflatoxin concentration under climate change, work jointly developed with the University of Florida.
• Lynn Brown, an Independent Consultant and the former chief economist of the World Food Program, will discuss linkages of aflatoxins with gender and nutrition as well as potential solutions.
• Ahmed Kablan, Senior Nutrition and Food Safety Research Advisor, Bureau of Food Security, USAID, will discuss the Bureau’s approaches to tackling aflatoxin challenges.
• Jonathan Bauchet, Purdue University, will show results from a USAID-funded field experiment on interventions designed to reduce aflatoxin contamination among smallholder farmers.

For more information, visit the official event page on the GCAN website.

The Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration (GCAN) Initiative under the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is part of the U.S. Feed the Future Initiative and is being implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).