September 18, 2013
Dr. Mutegi gathering data from a farmer in Kenya. She is currently leading efforts for the potential deployment of a biocontrol product that can be used to significantly reduce aflatoxin levels in maize.
A research scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – is this year’s winner of the prestigious Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Charity Kawira Mutegi, 38, was named as the prize winner by the World Food Prize Foundation, which administers the award. The Kenyan scientist won the prize for her efforts in different facets of aflatoxin management in Kenya, spanning a decade. Aflatoxin is a natural toxin produced by a mold which causes death and disease in consumers and massive economic damage to farmers, especially in developing countries
The World Food Prize was founded in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat in Mexico and in introducing adaptable wheat varieties into India and Pakistan during the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, the World Food Prize has honored outstanding individuals who have made vital contributions to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food.
The Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application recognizes an individual under the age of 40 who emulates the scientific innovation and dedication to food security demonstrated by Dr. Borlaug. Since the launch of the award in 2012, both winners have been women from developing countries — and both have been from the CGIAR Consortium. The first recipient was Dr. Aditi Mukherji, who was working as a senior researcher for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in India. IWMI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. Dr Mukherji has since moved to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
A founding father of CGIAR
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, who dedicated his life to increasing food production through improved agricultural technologies, played a pivotal role in the founding of CGIAR. His pioneering work on more productive crop varieties spurred momentum in international agricultural research, leading to the creation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 1971. The organization later changed its name to CGIAR.
IITA scientist Dr. Mutegi, who beat more than 40 other contenders to win the award launched in Norman Borlaug’s memory, is part of a research team based at the CGIAR Research Center, which has scored significant successes in the battle against aflatoxin. A report from IITA explains how the Center’s researchers have been applying locally adapted and easy-to-use biological tools to combat contamination by the deadly mold, which can occur in staple crops such as maize grain or groundnuts or in milk or meat if livestock have been fed contaminated grain. Aflatoxin is one of the most carcinogenic substances known.
Dr Mutegi said she was prompted to focus on finding solutions for aflatoxin after witnessing the effects of contamination first-hand. A devastating outbreak of aflatoxicosis in 2004-05, which caused the death of 125 people who had consumed contaminated grain in eastern Kenya, led her to investigate solutions in an effort to avert future outbreaks and safeguard the region’s staple crop of maize. She worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture to train more than 40,000 farmers, extension agents, and policy personnel on aflatoxin mitigation tools, and continued to generate data on aflatoxin prevalence to fine-tune national efforts to manage the problem.
“The devastating effects on many Kenyan households of maize grain contaminated with aflatoxins cannot be understated. Lives have been lost, tons of staple food destroyed, losses from the livestock sector run to millions of shillings, and by extension, livelihoods have been destroyed through economic disempowerment,” she said.
A bio pesticide against aflatoxin
Dr. Mutegi is currently leading efforts for extending and potential deployment of a biocontrol product in Kenya that can be used to significantly reduce aflatoxin levels in maize. This works by introducing naturally occurring non-toxic strains of the fungus, which have a competitive advantage over the strains that produce the deadly aflatoxin.
The new technology, first developed by the US Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Research Service (USDA-ARS), uses safe, non-toxic strains of the Aspergillus flavus fungus. The non-toxic strains outcompete the toxic strains, thereby reducing aflatoxin contamination in the maize crop. In Africa, the method was adapted to local conditions by IITA in partnership with USDA-ARS, the Nairobi-based African Agriculture Technology Foundation and several national institutions. The microbial bio pesticide being extended by Dr. Mutegi and her team – aflasafe KE01 – is affordable for farmers and environmentally safe. Once applied to a field, the effects last multiple growing seasons, making it highly effective.
After completing her PhD on aflatoxin contamination at the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa in 2010, Dr Mutegi returned to Kenya and worked for the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as well as CGIAR Consortium member the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as a visiting scientist. In June 2011, she took a leave of absence from KARI to become the Kenya Country Coordinator for the IITA Aflatoxin Biocontrol Project.
A role model for young scientists
IITA Director General Dr. Nteranya Sanginga congratulated Dr. Mutegi for winning the top Norman Borlaug award. “She is a great role model for all young African scientists and we are proud to have her on our team,” he said.
Said Amb. Kenneth M. Quinn, President of the World Food Prize. “Dr. Mutegi is an inspiration to other young scientists around the world. She tackled a critical problem, and has effectively transferred her own scientific knowledge to farmers and policymakers to help improve food safety for the entire region. Like Dr. Borlaug, she has put the needs of people first, and has shown persistence, innovation, effective communication, contribution to science, and application of that science to improve lives and livelihoods.”
The award will be formally presented to Dr. Mutegi on 16 October 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa, during World Food Day and as part of the annual Borlaug Dialogue, an international symposium on global food security issues. The 2013 Borlaug Dialogue, to be held from October 16-18, will mark the centenary of the birth of Dr. Borlaug. The event, with presentations from government leaders, policymakers, representatives from the agribusiness sector, NGOs and scientific, academic and development experts from around the world, will look ahead to the next century of advances in agricultural research and will focus on the issues that Dr. Borlaug would have viewed as critical to nourishing the world’s growing population.
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