AU to help African states reduce food losses

The African Union will assist its member states to reduce their post harvest losses, an official said on Wednesday.

AU Technical Adviser on Food Losses Cephas Taruvinga told an agricultural forum in Nairobi that the continent losses between 20 and 40 percent of all food harvested annually.

"The AU will help African states to build capacity to mitigate the food losses," Taruvinga said the First All Africa Post Harvest Congress and Exhibition.

The four day event brought together researchers, policy makers, government officials as well as the private sector from across the continent to review ways to reduce food losses in the continent.

Taruvinga said that the post harvest losses are affecting Africa's dream to achieve food security. "If Africa eliminates post harvest food losses it will not require to import food or food aid from the rest of the world," he added.

The AU will help the nations develop policies and guidelines that will assist food producers curb food losses. The most affected by food losses are perishable commodities including fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers.

The continent has already set a goal of reducing post harvest losses by half of current levels by the year 2025.

Taruvinga, who is also the Post Harvest Losses Specialists at the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization, said that Africa needs to improve the level of its investment in the agriculture.

In addition, he noted that Africa has concentrated its efforts on improving food productivity and not on eliminating post harvest losses. Endit