Abstract:
The main challenge for agriculture is the feeding of the estimated 9 billion people by 2050.
Besides increasing food production, attention should be directed towards reducing food loss and
waste. It is estimated that 1.3 billion tons of food produced globally is lost or wasted. Sub
Saharan Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa lose food valued at about US$ 4 billion and US$
1.6 billion per annum respectively. This food can meet the annual food requirements of at least
48 million of the 220 million undernourished people in Africa. Malawi, Mozambique and
Zambia experience annual maize post-harvest losses of 20% - 30%. Despite the availability of
technologies for reducing postharvest food losses worldwide, their adoption remains low in
Africa. Therefore, identification and elimination of constraints to the adoption of existing
technologies for reducing postharvest losses should be considered. To improve the flow of
information on the available technologies a capacity building programme which targeted 300
smallholder farmers and grain traders was developed in Southern Africa. The results of the post
training showed an insignificant adoption of the 30 ton metal silos due to inappropriateness of
the technology, cost and weak support infrastructure. |
