肯尼亚农民收获的玉米被毒素污染

There is growing alarm among Kenyan farmers about a government announcement that 2.3m bags of maize¹ were unfit for human consumption.

肯尼亚政府宣布230万袋玉米不适合人类食用，国内农民对此越来越惊慌。

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Aflatoxins in contaminated maize can be lethal

Health experts say the maize contained high levels of lethal（致死的） aflatoxins（黄曲霉毒素） , which have killed at least one child.

The government has pledged to buy and destroy the contaminated（受污染的） maize.

The crop was harvested in the drought- and famine-prone Eastern Province and went bad because farmers lacked the appropriate（适当的） storage facilities.

The east of Kenya is regularly hit by drought and food shortages.

But the BBC's Anne Waithera in Makindu, eastern Kenya, said heavy rains last year prompted a bumper³ harvest（丰收） .

Farmers were not expecting so much maize and did not know how to store it properly, our correspondent says.

Maize can be hit by a toxic⁴ fungus⁵（真菌） if it is not stored properly.

There have reportedly been more cases of maize-related food poisoning, and farmers in areas where the maize was harvested have told the BBC they are still not sure what is safe to eat.

One farmer told the BBC the government was offering to buy the maize for much less than it was worth.

He also said he was trying to select only the good maize to feed his family, but did not know for sure which bags were contaminated.