Grain stored above safe moisture is the single most common route to aflatoxin contamination in the region. Following a district survey of eleven cooperative stores, the Institution's Food & Agriculture Committee has revised the recommended ceiling for stored white and yellow maize to 13.5% moisture content, measured at three points in the stack.
Cooperatives should sample on intake, at fourteen days, and monthly thereafter. Where a portable meter is unavailable, the Institution will lend calibrated units through its district workshop programme at no cost.
Consignments above threshold should be dried before storage rather than blended down. Blending distributes risk rather than removing it, and cannot be verified by later sampling.