Quality of maize supplied under school feeding program and associated financial losses in Turkana County, Kenya

Turkana County, being an arid and semi-arid county is one of the major beneficiaries of the homegrown school feeding program from the government of Kenya. Most of the maize consumed in Turkana county is sourced from other counties as well as neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Ethiopia. Due to the vast distance, high temperatures as well as security challenges, post-harvest losses in the county are inevitable. This study, therefore, sought to establish the losses associated with the quality and safety of maize supplied to public primary schools under the homegrown school feeding program. All suppliers, n=22, who were supplying maize to public primary schools under the homegrown school feeding program, n=128 were included in the study. Maize samples were picked from school stores and analyzed for moisture content, aflatoxin B1, total aflatoxin and fumonisin. Moisture content was determined by AOAC method number AOAC 976.08:2012 while aflatoxin and fumonisin were determined using the ELISA method. Losses were estimated based on the Kenyan standard requirements for maize where any result above the recommended limit was considered a loss. The market price of maize at the time of study, Ksh. 50 per Kg was used to estimate the associated financial losses. The quality losses were Ksh. 15,075,950/= for moisture content and Ksh. 25,805,350/= for grading and live infestation. Safety losses based on aflatoxin B, Total aflatoxin and fumonisin were Ksh. 6,726,850/=, Ksh. 4,362,500/= and Ksh. 1,356,050/=, respectively. In total, Ksh. 53 million would be lost by the county government if the Kenyan standard for maize was well enforced. This shows that the quality and safety of maize supplied to schools under the school meals program is questionable and contributes further to post-harvest losses. Therefore, there is a need for proper sensitization on post-harvest handling among the school suppliers as well as investment in testing infrastructure by the county government. Key words: Feeding, Losses, school, safety, quality, post-harvest, maize, financial, supplied