Roundup: African experts root for new technologies to cut post-harvest losses

Governments across Sub-Saharan African region should invest in new technologies and innovations to reduce the menace of post harvest losses that has worsened food insecurity and poverty in rural areas, experts said on Wednesday.

The experts who spoke at a forum in Nairobi emphasized that access to technology, capacity building for smallholders and better market linkages will minimize loss of staples stored in granaries due to pests and diseases.

Mamadou Biteye, the Managing Director of Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office, noted that novel technologies like metal silos could help reduce post harvest losses in the continent that currently stands at 40 billion U.S. dollars.

"To reduce post harvest losses in Africa, we must incentivize smallholders through access to technology, markets and infrastructure development," Biteye said.

He noted that political commitment to tackle post harvest losses in Africa has gained traction since 2014 when the continent's leaders endorsed the Malabo declaration on agricultural transformation.

"The role of state is crucial to enable farmers' access appropriate technologies to contain the menace of post harvest losses. Likewise, behavior change is required from harvesting, storage and processing to minimize loss of cereals to weevils and aflatoxin," said Biteye.

The Rockefeller Foundation in January launched a 130 million dollars project dubbed Yieldwise to reduce post harvest losses in maize, tomato and mango value chains in three African countries.

Biteye said the project has enhanced access to storage technologies among maize, tomato and mango farmers in Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya respectively.

"We have looked at holistic ways to reduce post harvest losses through a public private partnership that has boosted uptake of storage technologies among smallholders in the three African countries," said Biteye.

The UN contend that globally, one third of staples produced in farms are lost to pests and diseases before they reach retailers' shelves.

Experts stressed that African countries must enact robust policies to stimulate investments in technologies and innovations that addresses post harvest losses.

Jones Govereh, a program officer at the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) said that policy and regulatory incentives were crucial to facilitate adoption of storage technologies on a larger scale.

"There are huge economic and nutritional benefits to accrue from managing post harvest losses in this continent. Technology, access to finance and farmers training will help contain key drivers of this menace," Govereh said. Endit