Ayo E M, Matemu A, Laswai G H, Kimanya M E
The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3004, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Scientifica (Cairo). 2018 Apr 30;2018:3485967. doi: 10.1155/2018/3485967. eCollection 2018.
Aflatoxins occurrence in feeds challenges human and animal health. Farmers' awareness status of these toxins has an effect on their level of exposure. The study assessed the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of farmers on their awareness of aflatoxin contamination of feeds. Data were collected from 258 households and analysed by SPSS program for descriptive statistics and association between socioeconomic characteristics and awareness of aflatoxin contamination of feeds. Over seventy percent of the farmers had never heard about aflatoxins. Education level, specialization, and period of keeping animals had significant influence on aflatoxin awareness. Hearing about aflatoxins was six times higher among farmers who studied life or social sciences than those without specialization and those who studied other fields. Awareness that aflatoxins may occur in feeds was twice higher among farmers with higher education than those with lower education. Perception that aflatoxins in feeds are detoxifiable was threefold higher among young people (with ≤10-year period of keeping animals) than among older ones. Awareness of aflatoxins was particularly low among farmers with low education and those without exposure to life or social sciences and vice versa. Sensitization is recommended to raise farmers' awareness on aflatoxin contamination of feeds and incorporating aflatoxin knowledge in school curricula.
饲料中黄曲霉毒素的存在对人类和动物健康构成挑战。农民对这些毒素的认知状况会影响他们的接触水平。该研究评估了农民的社会经济特征对其饲料黄曲霉毒素污染认知的影响。从258户家庭收集数据，并通过SPSS程序进行分析，以获取描述性统计数据以及社会经济特征与饲料黄曲霉毒素污染认知之间的关联。超过70%的农民从未听说过黄曲霉毒素。教育水平、专业化程度和养殖动物的时长对黄曲霉毒素认知有显著影响。学习生命科学或社会科学的农民听说过黄曲霉毒素的可能性是没有专业背景以及学习其他领域的农民的六倍。受过高等教育的农民认为饲料中可能存在黄曲霉毒素的认知是受教育程度较低农民的两倍。认为饲料中的黄曲霉毒素可解毒的认知，年轻人（养殖动物时长≤10年）是年长者的三倍。受教育程度低且未接触过生命科学或社会科学的农民对黄曲霉毒素的认知尤其低，反之亦然。建议开展宣传活动以提高农民对饲料黄曲霉毒素污染的认知，并将黄曲霉毒素知识纳入学校课程。
