A report published in 2011 by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) showed that Africa loses more than 40 percent of food in
post-harvest handling.
A World Bank report, also published in 2011,
stated that a 1 percent reduction in post-harvest losses could lead to annual
economic gains of $40 million, most of which would go to farmers.
The
World Bank report estimated that the value of annual losses, $4 billion,
exceeds the total value of food aid sent to sub-Saharan Africa, currently
valued at $3billion per annum. In addition, the Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA) notes that Africa imports $33billion worth
of food annually.
Damages to the structure of fruits, vegetables, legumes and
tubers during shipping and packaging accounts for almost a third of all damage
reported in sub-Sahara Africa.
Scraping of tomato skins and crushing during transportation in
wooden crates and woven cane baskets, with rough and sharp edges, accounts of
almost 25 percent of losses…
Researcher Hurst also notes that “overloading during
harvesting can cause a buildup of excessive compressive forces resulting in
crushing of fruits that are found at the base of the containers.”
Unbeknownst to farmers is the fact that they can avoid such damages
by using shallow plastic crates to transport their harvests.
This is because plastic crates have smooth sides and stack well.
But the costs of acquiring the plastic crates and the need to have to send them
back to the farmer after each delivery have deterred most farmers from embracing
them.
A plastic crate at a Nairobi supermarket costs Sh1500. A similar
capacity crate, made of wood, would only costs Sh400. But traders don’t often
reuse the wooden crates and most end up being broken down for firewood.
But it is not just tomato farmers who suffer from losses on
transit.
FAO
believes that a good effort has been made in building the capacity of small
holder farmers to improve post-harvest handling. The organization recommends
that similar effort be made to enlighten traders.
“Due to these
efforts, very good produce leaves the farm but unfortunately these same
practices are not followed by traders who handle the produce in large volumes,
for longer periods. There should be shift of focus from capacity building
of farmers on post-harvest techniques to the traders who take the highest risk
of bulking, transporting, ripening and selling the produce in urban areas,”
said the report.
Banana traders
from Kisii, a town to the West of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, suffer surmountable
loses to poor handling of produce during loading into trucks for transportation
and unloading at markets. “Due to the weight of the wrapped bananas, the rush
to load many trucks and the fatigue experienced by loaders, the bananas are
dumped and dragged without care. In addition, stepping and sitting on bunches
while arranging them inside the truck is common,” said the FAO report.
Although
caution is taken to transport the bananas in the evening when the temperatures
are cooler, proper packaging could help reduce the losses.
Bagging of
bunches and lining of hands with fibreboards at the farm, to minimise drying
and injury before the point of ripening is another way of minimizing the
damage.