Repository logo
 
Publication

Assessment of farmer’s knowledge and attitudes toward fungi and mycotoxin contamination in staple crops in Southern Mozambique

2025Journal article Open access
Simple item page
datacite.subject.fosCiências Agrárias::Biotecnologia Agrária e Alimentar
datacite.subject.fosCiências Agrárias::Outras Ciências Agrárias
datacite.subject.sdg02:Erradicar a Fome
dc.contributor.authorBila, João
dc.contributor.authorMacuamule, Custódia
dc.contributor.authorBombe, Amina
dc.contributor.authorRibeiro, Maria Isabel
dc.contributor.authorVenâncio, Armando
dc.contributor.authorAfonso, Sandra
dc.contributor.authorRodrigues, Paula
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-07T16:14:43Z
dc.date.available2025-11-07T16:14:43Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractIn Mozambique, 80% of the population directly depends on agriculture as a source of food and income. However, some of the most produced food crops, such as maize, rice and peanuts, are easily contaminated by fungi and mycotoxins. The naturally high prevalence of mycotoxins can be aggravated by the high vulnerability and lack of knowledge of the farmers. The aims of this study were to assess the knowledge and perceptions of small-size and medium-size farmers in the provinces of Inhambane and Gaza, southern Mozambique, regarding awareness of fungi and mycotoxin contamination of food crops, losses of production and income, and the causes and consequences of this contamination. A survey was conducted with 180 farmers in the two provinces. A multiple linear regression model was used to correlate the level of knowledge with the sociodemographic characteristics of the studied population. Results The results showed that 97.8% of the farmers have an insufficient level of knowledge about fungi and mycotoxins contamination of food crops. While 17.8% showed sufficient or good knowledge of the conditions that promote fungal contamination, only 3.9% knew what measures to apply to mitigate their occurrence. The level of knowledge was lower for the Inhambane farmers. According to the estimated model, province, gender, age (>45 years old), primary and secondary (1st cycle) education, another source of income other than agriculture and experience as a farmer (>10 years) are statistically significant predictors of the level of knowledge of the Mozambican farmers analyzed. These findings highlight the urgent need of tailored interventions to promote good agricultural and storage practices that allow the mitigation of mycotoxin contamination of food.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), through the project Ref. FCT AGA-KHAN/541590696/2019 “MYCOTOX-PALOP-Multi-actor partnership for the risk assessment of mycotoxins along the food chain in African Portuguese-speaking countries (PALOP).” We also thank FCT for their financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CEB (UIDB/04469/2020), CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020), SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020), and LABBELS (LA/P/0029/2020).
dc.identifier.citationBila, João; Macuamule, Custódia; Bombe, Amina; Ribeiro, Maria Isabel; Venâncio, Armando; Afonso, Sandra; Rodrigues, Paula (2025). Assessment of farmer’s knowledge and attitudes toward fungi and mycotoxin contamination in staple crops in Southern Mozambique. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. ISSN 2571-581X. 9, p. 1-22
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fsufs.2025.1622532
dc.identifier.issn2571-581X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/35006
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherFrontiers Media
dc.relationCentre of Biological Engineering of the University of Minho
dc.relationAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
dc.relationAssociate Laboratory on Biotechnology, Bioengineering and microELectromechanical Systems
dc.relation.ispartofFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectStorage
dc.subjectMaize
dc.subjectPeanuts
dc.subjectGrain loss
dc.subjectSmall-hold farmers
dc.subjectAflatoxins
dc.titleAssessment of farmer’s knowledge and attitudes toward fungi and mycotoxin contamination in staple crops in Southern Mozambiqueeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleCentre of Biological Engineering of the University of Minho
oaire.awardTitleAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
oaire.awardTitleAssociate Laboratory on Biotechnology, Bioengineering and microELectromechanical Systems
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04469%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0007%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0029%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage22
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
oaire.citation.volume9
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameRibeiro
person.familyNameRodrigues
person.givenNameMaria Isabel
person.givenNamePaula
person.identifier2474707
person.identifier.ciencia-id8D1B-9409-7921
person.identifier.ciencia-id2312-18AE-DA42
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-5425-006X
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-3789-2730
person.identifier.scopus-author-id58492545800
person.identifier.scopus-author-id7102639646
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationcff96812-d440-40dc-b44f-998d48894fd0
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationb864b8c1-d66a-419c-b1ac-e6193f93eca6
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoverycff96812-d440-40dc-b44f-998d48894fd0
relation.isProjectOfPublication58a7266d-f7d7-4efa-9d8f-9b455c6b95e0
relation.isProjectOfPublication6255046e-bc79-4b82-8884-8b52074b4384
relation.isProjectOfPublication26e18056-1df9-41f3-aef2-8bea57e0ceac
relation.isProjectOfPublication.latestForDiscovery58a7266d-f7d7-4efa-9d8f-9b455c6b95e0

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
assessment .pdf
Size:
8.8 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

CIMO - Artigos em Revistas Indexados à WoS/Scopus