Millers are pushing for a shift towards data-driven interventions to tackle the country’s persistent aflatoxin contamination.
This comes as the industry players warn that traditional approaches have failed to stem a crisis affecting staple foods and public health.
According to the Cereal Millers Association (CMA), aflatoxin contamination continues to be a severe public health and economic threat in Kenya.
Previous studies indicate majority of maize flour samples tested in urban areas show detectable levels of the toxin, and 16 per cent exceed the national regulatory limit of 10 ppb or parts per billion—the standard unit of measurement used to quantify the amount of dangerous toxin in food or feed.
The call comes as aflatoxin once again took centre stage at the two-day Cereal Millers Association Annual Technical Conference and Expo 2026, in Nairobi, which ended yesterday.
The forum brought together more than 70 firms including millers, technology providers and agribusiness stakeholders, to explore solutions to the long-standing challenge.
Cereal Millers Association CEO Paloma Fernandes said the industry has grappled with aflatoxin contamination for years, despite ongoing efforts including self-regulation and improved quality controls.
She noted that past studies have revealed widespread contamination even in commercially processed flour, underscoring the scale of the challenge.
“The industry has been working to address this problem, but it remains significant,” Fernandes said.
Aflatoxin, a toxic byproduct of certain fungi, continues to contaminate key staples such as maize, peanuts and even dairy products, particularly in high-risk regions across Kenya.
Despite years of mitigation efforts, the contamination remains widespread, raising concerns over food safety, export competitiveness and long-term health risks.
Industry leaders say the next phase of the fight will depend less on isolated testing and more on real-time data, traceability and predictive insights across the agricultural value chain.
At the centre of this shift is Aflabox Srl, which has introduced an artificial intelligence-powered screening system, Aflabox, to the Kenyan market.
The technology allows users to scan agricultural commodities and detect aflatoxin contamination within seconds, a significant departure from conventional laboratory testing, which is often costly, time-consuming and inaccessible to many farmers and traders.
Beyond rapid testing, the system is designed as a data ecosystem. Each scan generates geolocated information using integrated GPS, feeding into dashboards that map contamination patterns, product origin and quality variations across regions.
This, according to the developers, could transform how stakeholders respond to aflatoxin risks —shifting from reactive interventions to proactive, data-informed decision-making.
“Innovations like Aflabox are particularly exciting because they have the potential to be a game changer across the entire value chain, from farms to mills,” Fernandes said.
According to Luca Alinovi, CEO and co-founder of Aflabox, the system is built to simplify aflatoxin detection in environments where laboratory infrastructure is limited.
“Instead of using complicated laboratory procedures, the device is just a click and in 30 to 60 seconds you get the results and understand if it is contaminated or not,” he said.
Alinovi added that the real breakthrough lies in the aggregation and analysis of data generated from continuous screenings.
When deployed at scale, the system can map contamination trends in real time, identify high-risk zones and track how contaminated products move through the supply chain.
This level of visibility, he said, enables millers, aggregators, regulators and policymakers to respond faster and more effectively, whether by isolating contaminated batches, adjusting sourcing strategies or targeting interventions in specific regions.
Agronomists involved in the project say the technology could also address one of the biggest gaps in aflatoxin management by early detection.
Alessio Collussi, an agronomist , noted that current testing systems often come too late in the value chain, when contaminated grain has already been mixed, transported or processed, hence increasing the risk of cross-contamination.
Kenya’s regulatory limit for aflatoxin in food stands at 10 parts per billion (ppb), but studies have frequently found levels exceeding this threshold in commonly consumed products.
Wilson Songa, a member of the Agriculture Sector Network executive board, said the ability to act in real time could mark a turning point in managing the crisis.
“If you can detect and isolate contamination early, you stop the problem from spreading further along the chain. That is where the real value lies,” he said.
