University
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Area of Focus
Food Sciences
Education
Rehema Matendo Esther is a PhD student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Food Sciences. Originally from Bukavu, in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rehema has pursued her higher education all around East Africa. Against the backdrop of great political turmoil and civil unrest, she managed to complete her undergraduate education at the Université Evangélique en Afrique, and then began working as a junior lecturer at the same university. In 2014, she received a scholarship from INTRA Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP), funded by the European Union, to continue her MSc at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Her MSc research was focused on the search for a natural plant extract antidote to the Tuta Absoluta pest, which causes immense devastation to crops in Morogoro, Tanzania.
Research & Work
Rehema’s PhD research centres on the utilization of local plant-based treatment to mitigate mycotoxin contamination in staple food in South Kivu, DRC. Her work proposes to address the problem of food insecurity in the DRC, through the prevention and reduction of mycotoxin contamination, specifically aflatoxins and fumonisins, in foods commonly consumed in the community. There is still limited information on the contamination of maize, with fungi that cause the appearance of mycotoxins in foods and how to manage it, yet early reports show that it can be so devastating that it is can cause significant yield loss. Furthermore, the occurrence of some diseases in the community is correlated with the population who are exposed to those toxins. Aflatoxins cannot be completely eliminated from the food systems. Thus, any effort to prevent or reduce contamination in foods is highly recommended.
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