Malawi Programme for Aflatoxin Control (MAPAC)1

Abstract

This communique present the outcome of a meeting on Malawi Programme for Aflatoxin Control (MAPAC)1  with a call for Malawi to double efforts by 2020, to achieve an annual economic growth rate of nine percent. To achieve this, Malawi needs to address its unsustainable trade balance by strengthening the productive base and reducing dependence on tobacco, as the main export crop. Addressing barriers to accessing potential remunerative regional and international export markets, including trade logistics, tariffs and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues has become a priority of the Malawian government. In order to understand the main SPS market access issues limiting export opportunities for the country, in 2012, with the support of USAID and under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), an assessment was conducted on the basis of the application of a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework. Improved aflatoxin mitigation, management and control for groundnuts was identified as one of the top four issues that the country needed to address in support of export growth. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), with the support of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), initiated a consultative process to develop a program for the control of aflatoxins in groundnuts to facilitate export development. The program was expected to take stock of existing government and donor-supported initiatives to address aflatoxin contamination in the country, address outstanding gaps and priorities, and to promote coordination and synergies between the relevant stakeholders.