World Food Day 2024: Get to know Mohammed Mahdi, PhD at Wageningen University (Netherlands)

23 October 2024

Ensuring the right to food for all requires collective action to tackle hunger and poverty. This means prioritising the production and consumption of diverse, safe and nutritious foods, while building resilience against shocks, vulnerabilities, and stresses.

The academic community plays a crucial role in this mission. Research, data, technology, and innovation can be powerful tools for enhancing food safety and food security, as well as for transforming agrifood systems for a better future and a better life for all.

That’s why UPRISE is taking action by training 11 PhD students under joint EU-AU supervision to become future leaders and food safety ambassadors for Africa. These researchers will play a key role in supporting food safety risk assessment and management to reduce mycotoxin levels, by developing guides, toolkits, early warning systems and microbiome- based innovations.

Get to know Mohammed Mahdi, PhD at Wageningen University (Netherlands).

Mohammed’s research focuses on developing a predictive early warning system for mycotoxin contamination in cereals, particularly maize, millet, and sorghum, in African countries. Mycotoxins, which are toxic compounds produced by fungi, pose significant threats to public health, food security, and agricultural economies, especially in tropical regions vulnerable to climate change. By leveraging machine learning models and integrating environmental, agronomic, and climate data, his research aims to predict mycotoxin contamination levels, enabling timely interventions to minimise contamination and reduce risks.

The scope of his study includes the development and validation of predictive models using machine learning techniques, with the goal of integrating these models into a user-friendly mobile application. This mobile app will serve as a monitoring and early warning tool for farmers, agricultural stakeholders, and policymakers, helping them make informed decisions about pre-harvest and post-harvest management to minimise contamination risks. The research will also examine the barriers and drivers for the adoption of this technology, as well as its potential economic benefits for smallholder farmers.

One of the 5 building block of UP-RISE (EU-AU Partnership for Resilient, Inclusive and Safe Food Systems for Everyone) is to develop monitoring and early warning systems for mycotoxins, to be included in the AFSS (African Food Safety System), this is exactly what his project aims to achieve, which is to offer a scalable solution to a critical agricultural challenge in Africa. It contributes to food safety, economic stability, and resilience in the face of climate change, while addressing key global development goals such as Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, and Responsible Consumption and Production.

Video: Mohammed Mahdi, PhD at Wageningen University (Netherlands)

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