World Bank grant of $4.8 million for Mycotoxin Research and Capacity Building in Africa

The Nigerian Food and Toxicology Research Group & the Ghent University International Thematic Network MYTOX-SOUTH, were awarded a $4.8 million grant by the World Bank to establish the "African Centre of Excellence for Mycotoxin and Food Safety". The Food and Toxicology Research Group (FTRG) of the Federal University of Technology Minna (Nigeria) together with MYTOX-SOUTH, the Ghent University International Thematic Network, coordinated by Sarah De Saeger & Dr. Marthe De Boevre, were awarded a $4.8 million grant by the World Bank to establish the "African Centre of Excellence for Mycotoxin and Food Safety" . MYTOX-SOUTH strengthens partnerships for equals between Ghent University and African academic institutes to improve food security and food safety through mitigation of mycotoxins, the major food safety problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Centre of Excellence (ACE) is aimed at addressing five sustainable development goals (SDGs) of poverty reduction, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, and quality education, and indirectly clean water and sanitation by 2030. The ACE will create an interdisciplinary, experiential education model that will prepare a cadre of future leaders focused on the rapidly emerging need for innovations at the nexus of food security, food safety, agricultural productivity and economics from local to global scales. The ACE will foster impactful interdisciplinary research and implement solutions that improve the quality of life of Africans through fit-for-purpose interventions fostering economic growth and access to sufficient safe food for all.