Nigeria Aflasafe™ Challenge Project

Completed

Summary

The Nigeria Aflasafe™ Challenge Project was a five-year, US $12.68 million Pay-for-Results prize competition that incentivized private sector actors to work with smallholder farmers to adopt Aflasafe™. AgResults offered a per unit payment premium to aggregators and grain traders for each metric ton of high-Aflasafe™ maize (i.e., maize grains containing high proportion of beneficial fungi). By motivating the use of Aflasafe™ and providing technical assistance, aggregators helped smallholder farmers to produce aflatoxin-reduced maize. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) served as the Project Manager.

Encouraging farmers to apply Aflasafe to their maize has economic and health benefits.
AgResults Nigeria Project Timeline
Infogram

The learning journey

The Problem
Contest Design
Expected Impact
Actual Results
Learning & Evaluation

The problem

Aflatoxins are one of the world’s most carcinogenic substances. They are produced by a group of molds known as the Aspergillus fungi that often contaminate grains, such as maize. Aflatoxin-contaminated food can increase the risk of cancer and is associated with childhood stunting. In Nigeria, where smallholder farmers produce over 70% of the nation’s maize crop, aflatoxins compromise livelihoods and endanger lives.

Technologies to combat aflatoxin contamination have been sought for decades. In Nigeria, an environmentally safe technology called AflasafeTM has been developed to reduce aflatoxin contamination of crops. AflasafeTM uses beneficial fungi that displace toxigenic fungi However, various barriers, including low consumer awareness and a lack of contamination limits, have prevented its widespread adoption.

Contest design

Who was the target?

Private sector aggregators and grain traders who provide AflasafeTM to smallholder farmers to improve maize quality and obtain better market prices.

What was the prize?

Competitors received US $18.75 per MT of AflasafeTM-treated maize sold. When tested, the maize needed to have at least a 70% AflasafeTM level.

Verification

Laboratory testing verified the prevalence of AflasafeTM in maize to provide payments.

Expected impact

The project was expected to engage private maize aggregators and encourage them to supply aflatoxin-reduced maize while raising awareness of aflatoxins as a problem and Aflasafe™ as an effective control. Increased awareness would drive up demand for aflatoxin-free maize among smallholder farmers and value chain actors, improving health as people consume safer maize. Smallholder farmers were also expected to benefit from increased yields and increased market demand and/or any direct financial incentives that maize aggregators provided them.

AgResults expected to achieve the following by the end of the project:

Actual results

41

# of Competitors

25591

SHF Reached

$2020118

Prizes Awarded (USD)

131050MT

Amount of Aflasafe-treated Grain

Learning & Evaluation

What We’ve Learned through Implementation

This table illustrates how our learning has evolved in Nigeria from project design through implementation. Further details can be found in the Learning Library.

Recent News and Learning

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AgResults Toolkit Prize Concept Review Framework
AgResults Toolkit Prize Concept Review Framework
Evaluation Final Report: Nigeria Aflasafe Challenge Project
Evaluation Final Report: Nigeria Aflasafe Challenge Project
The Nigeria Aflasafe Maize Challenge: Competitor Perspectives
The Nigeria Aflasafe Maize Challenge: Competitor Perspectives
Evaluator Lessons Learned #3: Nigeria Aflasafe Project Evaluation Findings
Evaluator Lessons Learned #3: Nigeria Aflasafe Project Evaluation Findings
The Pay-for-Results Challenge in Nigeria: Incentivizing New Technology Use for Sustainable Markets and Development Impact
The Pay-for-Results Challenge in Nigeria: Incentivizing New Technology Use for Sustainable Markets and Development Impact
Evaluation Design: Nigeria Aflasafe Challenge Project
Evaluation Design: Nigeria Aflasafe Challenge Project

Evaluation Design

In Nigeria, the Evaluator originally designed a randomized control trial, but because of lack of adherence to the randomization, a quasi-experimental impact evaluation design was used instead. This approach involved comparing smallholder farmers in project-targeted villages (treatment group) with smallholder farmers in villages not reached by the project (non-treatment group). These groups were primarily located the zone of influence of six implementers in the states of Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina. To assess impact of the project on market for aflatoxin-free maize, the Evaluator is applying a structure-conduct-performance analytical framework.

Evaluation Stage

The Evaluator carried out the baseline evaluation before the 2015 planting season and, based on the planned project end date in 2018, completed the endline survey before the 2017 planting season. The final evaluation is complete and available here. A final qualitative inquiry will take place after the project ends in 2020 after its one-year extension is complete. Evaluation findings are forthcoming.

Project team

DEBO AKANDE

IITA

Country Lead, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Debo Akande is the Country Lead for AgResults Project in Nigeria. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Development Studies from the United Kingdom and Diplomas in Agribusiness management and International Environmental Law, from Nigeria and Switzerland respectively. He is a United Kingdom-qualified Chartered Fellow Manager as well as a Doctoral Researcher of Agribusiness Management at the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Mr. Akande is also a Senior Scientist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), with over 15 years of international development management experience.
RANAJIT BANDYOPADHYAY

IITA

Principal Scientist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Ranajit Bandyopadhyay is a Principal Scientist (Plant Pathology) with 38 years of agricultural research and development experience in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. He holds a PhD in Plant Pathology from Haryana Agricultural University in India. After working the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India, Dr. Bandyopadhyay joined the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria where he founded the Africa-wide Aflasafe initiative and has been guiding research, tech transfer, commercialization and scaling-up of the aflatoxin biocontrol technology Aflasafe in 17 African nations. He has received several international recognitions for his work.