Nairobi — Farmers in Eastern province and parts of Coast are to be forced to grow maize for energy production only, following a report that aflatoxin contamination is generic in the areas.

Prof Hiroyuki Hino, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has recommended that maize and sorghum grown in the provinces be used for ethanol and biodiesel production, and not for human consumption.

In a memo to Mr Odinga, Prof Hino says most crops in the two regions, including sorghum, wheat, peanuts, soya beans, sunflower, spices, and coconut are prone to aflatoxin.

Prof Hino's recommendation is based on a report released recently by the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which confirmed that aflatoxin contamination in maize is a health hazard in the two provinces.

The report affirms that the contamination originates from the soil and is caused by humidity and high temperatures. It seems to contradict the government's argument that only improper post-harvest handling causes the contamination.

The ministry of Agriculture early this month said that of the three million bags produced in the regions during the short-rains season, two-thirds are contaminated. The government is now seeking to buy the maize from farmers at a low price in order to destroy it.

According to the report, titled Impacts of Aflatoxins on Health and Nutrition, Kenya has had cases of contamination in 1982, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and this year.

The major outbreak occurred in 2004 when 317 cases of aflatoxin poisoning were reported, with 125 deaths. This was the biggest number of deaths registered worldwide since 1974, when 106 people died in western India.

In September, last year, WHO country director Burkard Oberle wrote to both Agriculture and Public Health ministers, asking them to ensure the communities at the Bura irrigation scheme do not eat highly aflatoxin-contaminated maize.

According to a WHO report of 2005, about 1.8 million people ate such food.

The report said that, in Kenya, acute aflatoxin poisoning had resulted in liver failure and death in up to 40 per cent of the cases.

Thus, based on the level of maize contamination in the country, 11 in every 100,000 people in the affected areas risk contracting liver cancer.

Aflatoxin is a fungal toxin that commonly contaminates maize and other crops during production, harvest, storage and processing. It affects adults, but is more severe in children.

The WHO report linked aflatoxin to underweight and stunted growth in children in Eastern province.