Zambia Agribusiness Society

Years ago, sorghum was one of the most important food crops in Africa, but over the years, farmers have abandoned it in favour of maize. However, what farmers do not know is that sorghum has many advantages over maize and other pasture grasses. To begin with, it can grow well in both high and low potential areas where maize cannot do well. As a fodder crop, it can be used in place of maize for making silage and grain and even as a fresh chopped forage for various animals, including cows, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens. As animal feed, it has the same energy level as maize or any other cereal. Due to its higher sugar content, sorghum can do better than maize when it comes to silage making because farmers do not need to add molasses as they do when making silage. Sorghum can withstand dry conditions (600mm annual rainfall) and remain green at very low moisture level, thus, providing farmers with adequate feeds when maize and other feed sources fail. Sorghum can still do well

Aflatoxin, like foot-and-mouth disease, hinders the export of African products and agricultural produce to lucrative European, US and rich Asian markets. Often the communities have little knowledge of the existence of such problems and their socio-economic impact. In general, the communities do not have solutions to the problems caused by these diseases, as they do not fully understand them. Aflatoxin is known in chemistry science as a mycotoxin that, thus a micro dangerous chemical substance produced as a secondary metabolites by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus fungi. These fungi are widely studied due to their effect on humans and animals, as well as the economic implications thereof (Galvez et al, 2003; Chinnan & Resurreccion, 2013; Kaaya, 2014). Economic impact of aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts production Aflatoxin has been identified as the major problem in groundnuts trade for African countries who are losing about $760 million annually due to cont