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Dec 31, 2024Keywords:
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Awareness and Adoption of Safety Practices against Aflatoxin Contamination among Maize Marketers in Kaduna Metropolis
Abstract
This study investigated the awareness and adoption of safety practices to avert aflatoxin contamination among maize marketers in Kaduna Metropolis of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative research design, primary data was obtained through the use of structured questionnaires. Respondents were selected based on a combination of purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were employed to analyze the collected data. The socio-economic description of the respondents revealed a predominantly male population of maize marketers (60.8%) with a mean age of 30.6 years and a business experience of 6.2 years. Findings revealed high awareness of aflatoxin contamination among the marketers, as 75.0% of the marketers indicated they were aware of the issue. The principal sources of information were health extension agents (26.6%) and seminars (11.7%). In terms of safety practices, a large proportion of the respondents reported that they had used thorough cleaning of maize grains (90.0%) and grain storage under dry conditions (89.2%). The key contributory factors to aflatoxin contamination reported were high moisture content during storage (mean score = 1.8) and inadequate drying of maize grains before storage (mean score = 0.9). Hypothesis testing revealed a significant relationship (p ≤ 0.05) between the awareness of aflatoxin contamination by respondents and the adoption of six out of the twelve safety practices investigated. The study concluded that maize marketers in Kaduna Metropolis have high awareness of aflatoxin contamination and good adoption of the relevant safety practices. To enhance food safety even more, the research recommends entrusting the health extension agents with promoting ongoing compliance with safety protocols among maize marketers via information sharing.
