Implications of mycotoxin contamination on food and nutrition security among smallholder farmers in Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Understanding the link between mycotoxin contamination and rural farmer household food and nutrition security is pivotal for guiding evidence-based policy interventions in rural communities. This study investigated the sources, challenges, effects and existing mitigation approaches for mycotoxin contamination, and their implications on food and nutrition security in eastern Ethiopia. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect comprehensive data from 240 households across East and West Hararghe zones in the 2025 cropping season. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and econometric models. Descriptive analysis revealed that inadequate crop drying and poor storage conditions were the primary factors for mycotoxin contamination, with mould most frequently observed on crops stored in traditional sacks and underground pits. Over three-quarter of the sampled households were aware of poisonous moulds but their primary information source was informal networks. However, the adoption of advanced contamination prevention practices remained low. Furthermore, 64% and 58% of households were food insecure in East and West Hararghe zones, respectively. Households in East and West Hararghe zones grouped into low (48% and 40%), medium (43% and 45%) and high (9.2% and 15%) nutritional status categories, respectively. The binary and ordered logit models showed that among other socio-economic factors, access to mycotoxins information, education, distance to market and access to main road, and extension advice significantly affected households’ food safety and nutrition security. These results imply that improving rural communities’ knowledge and perception of the mycotoxin challenge influences rural households’ food and nutrition security status. Rural communities should be capacitated through strengthening post-harvest extension services by integrating formal and informal social networks, small-scale crop drying and improved storage technologies, which may reduce mycotoxin contamination and improve food safety and household nutrition. Thus, integrating mycotoxin management into broader food and nutrition-enhancing policies and strategies is essential, with interventions focusing on determinant socio-economic factors.