Post harvest loss reduction- CGIAR

le metal silos enable farmers to store
their crops safely, rather than lose them to pests
or being forced to sell them off cheaply straight
after harvest (when prices are at their lowest).
Improving food security is not just a question of
increasing production. It is also a matter of
ensuring that the food that is produced is used to
the best effect. Figures, (such as those
presented earlier this year by the Commission
on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate
Change
, set up by the CGIAR Research Program on
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food
Security
(CCAFS)) make somber reading. While nearly one
billion people in the world are undernourished —
and millions suffer from chronic disease due to
excess food consumption — roughly one-third of
food produced for human consumption is lost or
wasted. That translates into 1.3 billion tonnes each
year, worth nearly one trillion US dollars.
Tackling food loss and waste could make a
significant contribution to combating hunger, and
the issue now plays a prominent role in the
debate about feeding the world’s growing
population. The Food and Agriculture
Organization, together with the United Nations
Environment Program and partners, run the
Think, Eat, Save campaign, an initiative that
aims to halt the massive quantities of food being
needlessly squandered in both North and South.
A study by FAO’s Save Food program reveals
that just one-quarter of the food lost annually
would be enough to feed the world’s hungry.
At CGIAR, vigorous efforts are under way to
provide concrete solutions to the problem of food
waste for farmers in poor countries. Food
spoilage and waste account for annual losses
of US$310 billion in developing countries, where
nearly 65% of lost food occurs at the production,
processing and postharvest stages. In Sub-
Saharan Africa alone, up to 150kgs of food
produced is lost per person every year.
Depending on the crop, between 15 and 35%
of food may be lost before it even leaves the
field. Pests and diseases can devastate a farmer’s
output once it has been harvested and is stored
for sale or consumption.
One solution producing tangible results is CGIAR
Research Program (CRP) MAIZE and
CIMMYT’s Effective Grain Storage Project
(EGSP), which is helping African maize farmers to
protect their source of food and income. Maize is
one of the most important staple food crops in
Sub-Saharan Africa, providing food and income
to more than 300 million resource-poor
smallholders in eastern and southern Africa, but
farmers suffer heavy post-harvest losses
estimated at 20-30%, due to inadequate storage
techniques.
Storage solutions for farmers
As part of the CGIAR Research Program on
MAIZE, an initiative is underway to improve the
food security, and the health and safety of
smallholders in Eastern and Southern Africa by
reducing both postharvest losses and
mycotoxin contamination in maize-derived
foods. Produced and distributed as part of a
project being implemented by CIMMYT and
partners, affordable metal silos are enabling
farmers to store their crops safely, rather than
lose them to pests or being forced to sell them off
cheaply straight after harvest when prices are at
their lowest. Made of galvanized metal, the silos
are airtight, so they keep out insects and suffocate
any that might have been stored along with the
grain.
A blog about the program, which also produces
hermetic postharvest bags in four African
countries – Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and
Zimbabwe – describes its impact in protecting
harvested grains from attack by destructive
pests, such as the larger grain borer
(Prostephanus truncatus) and the maize weevil
(Sitophilus zeamais).
The metal silo technology, which can also be
used for other crops such as beans, sorghum,
millet, cowpeas and pigeon peas
, also provides good business opportunities for
local artisans, earning them over US$3,000 per
year if they make five silos per month.
The CGIAR Research Program on Roots,
Tubers and Bananas
(RTB) is focusing on postharvest technologies as
a strategy for increasing smallholder farmer
incomes by making these crops more
marketable. A post describes how the CRP is
repositioning RTBs as added-value cash crops
by developing storage solutions and postharvest
processing. The idea is to extend the shelf-life of
these perishable crops, reducing food losses and
tapping into emerging markets further afield,
particularly in urban areas.
Wasted natural resources
Food secu