While agriculture is considered the backbone of the Rwandan economy, aflatoxins are still one of the major threat to both the agricultural economy and nutritional safety of the nation. The World Health Organization says that Aflatoxins are poisonous substances produced by certain kinds of fungi which contaminate food crops and pose a serious health threat to humans and livestock. Cob model is one of the approaches that have been identified by Kirehe Disrict farmers to combat aflatoxins and reduce the post-harvest losses in the Maize supply chain. The cob model is a sourcing model in which the crops are stored and sometimes sold on cobs to avoid the crops to be kept in one overcrowded environment creating moisture which is a favourable condition for aflatoxins. Gloriose Kabagwira is the president of KOAISOMA cooperative, which is made up of 434 coffee and soya farmers. “The impacts of using the cob model are noticeable because our produce has scaled up by a significant level. We used to experience post-harvest losses, but we started using the cob model for storage and sometimes for sale and drying the crops to get aerated and avoid moisture, this has raised the quantity of what we send to the market” she said. Marie Mukantaganzwa, another maize farmer in the same cooperative, said that since the introduction of this new sourcing model, their standards of living have scaled up. “It has even raised our standards of living, I was able to collaborate with my husband and we built a house, a milestone I had failed to achieve for quite a long time,” she replied, adding that she is now able to afford her kids’ school fees without taking debts anywhere, or selling a cow. Jean Paul Niyonzima, an agronomist in Mpanga sector, notes that as of today, farmers are happy since none of their production has been rejected from the market like it used to be before. “Farmers benefit a lot, because they avoid post-harvest losses, and their produce is no longer rejected from the market over poor quality issues,” he explains. He also predicts a positive future for the maize farmers and the agricultural sector at large as long as these modern farming methods keep being used which facilitates a good value chain. Kirehe farmers started embracing the cob model after intensive training of using modern farming methods. They were among 61,000 farmers trained by the Ministry of Agriculture and Africa Improved foods and Clinton Development initiative among the partners. The training aimed at raising awareness on aflatoxin management and reduction in the maize supply chain to ensure food safety and maximize revenue from maize sales through high-quality crop production. Kabagwire is proud that the neighbouring sectors are learning from her cooperative. “Our standards of living have been improved and other sectors are now learning from us, which is something very commendable,” she said.
