Firm unveils AI tool to detect aflatoxin in farm produce

Aflabox CEO Luca Alinovi and agronomist Alessio Collussi demonstrate the new innovation that detects aflatoxin at the farm level. [Nehemiah Okwembah, Standard]

A firm has introduced an aflatoxin tool that will screen levels of aflatoxin on farm produce for proper decontamination and preservation. This tool is expected to help minimise post-harvest losses.

The new technology uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scan and give real-time tests for aflatoxin in farm produce at the farm level, hence improving food security and safety.

Aflatoxin has been described as a major food safety crisis in Kenya with endemic contamination reportedly affecting key staple crops such as maize, peanuts and dairy products, mostly in the Eastern region.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Cereal Millers Association (CMA), Paloma Fernandes, farmers and millers in the country had long been grappling with high aflatoxin levels.

Fernandes was speaking during the CMA annual technical conference and expo 2026 in Nairobi where she said the level of aflatoxin has been rising since 2012 where data showed that 65 per cent of the commercial flour on the Kenyan shops and supermarket's shelves had been contaminated by aflatoxin, while in 2020, the levels stood at 50 per cent.

 “One of the exciting exhibitions today is the introduction of the aflabox that is affordable and portable, which is going to be a game changer for us, whether we are in mills or in the farms as aggregators. We are very excited to see where this innovation will take us,” she said.

Developed by Aflabox Srl, an Italian company, Aflabox is said to be the first equipment that will be accessible to all category of farmers, who will use it to check aflatoxin levels in their farm produce early enough before releasing it to the market.

Fernandes and the co-founder of Aflabox Srl, Luca Alinovi, said the new technology will reduce bureaucracy and time used in testing aflatoxin on farm produce.

Alinov added that the aflabox only need internet connection instead of the tradition methods that need a lab to conduct the tests. 

“Instead of using Bio Chemicals, you just put samples of the product in the device, you do a click, and in 30, seconds, you get the results of whether it is contaminated or not,” he said.

“Aflabox is a European Company but is represented in Kenya by Aflazero, which is allowing us to be present and to work extensively in the country. We want to be able to solve this problem for people, the millers, the traders and the government.”

Alessio Collussi, an Agronomist at Aflabox, said that the big problem Kenya and the whole of Africa was facing was the amount of aflatoxin present in the food being consumed daily, particularly food made in flour.

 “The issue is, to measure aflatoxin in food will require equipped laboratories where laser tests have to be performed or other sophisticated analysis. In this case, what we wanted to do was to prepare a solution that would simplify the screening of aflatoxin,” he said.

Collussi added that they came up with a small box where a sample of maize is added to conduct the tests, and can enable farmers, traders or aggregators to understand the origin of risks and be able to solve it.

Dr Wilson Songa, who is an executive board member of the Agriculture Sector Network (ASN), said that the Aflabox will ensure action is taken in time to prevent contamination in food.

“What we would also want is the government to support in the policy environment to enable the use of this technology, and more importantly, management and movement of material that has been found to have high levels of aflatoxin to move to facilities that are able to decontaminate,” he said.