Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
December 3, 2014
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Rockefeller Foundation have launched a project to test three innovative storage technologies to help the country’s smallholder farmers reduce post-harvest losses.
The three technologies - hermetic cocoons, metal silos and PICs (Purdue Improved Cowpeas) bags – are part of a two year project in response to this year’s impressive bumper harvest of key food crops in Tanzania’s breadbasket regions, which has seen a harvest surplus following 2013’s 14.38 million metric tons. Tanzania’s National Food Reserve stores are currently saturated, creating a need for storage facilities to reduce food loss and transportation costs.
With farmers across Tanzania adopting improved agricultural practices, the country is facing increased yields, leading to increased pressure for storage facilities. Farmers are at great risk of losing significant amounts of their harvest and consequently their income, due to their inability to properly store their grain. Research funded by AGRA estimates that Tanzania sometimes faces post-harvest losses as high as 40 per cent for some crops.
Over 4200 farmers will participate in the project, from which lessons will also be drawn on barriers to their adoption to technologies in their trade.
Speaking at the project launch in Ibumila Village, Njombe, The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and Cooperatives Sophia Kaduma thanked AGRA and the Rockefeller Foundation for coming up with the very important project.
We have seen agriculture continue to grow and prosper in our country; as the government works to increase warehouse storage capacity, projects like this one will ensure our farmers can store their grain and reap the benefits of bumper harvests. - Sophia Kaduma, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
AGRA President Dr. Agnes Kalibata explained the timelines of the project, and its role in generating research to inform similar interventions in future.
There are a number of innovative storage technologies available, but these are yet to reach farmers, traders and government agencies involved in food storage. This project will enhance efforts to increase farmers’ access to new technologies to reduce post-harvest losses, and increase our understanding of how to best encourage greater uptake of similar storage technologies. Dr Agnes Kalibata, AGRA President.
Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office, Mamadou Biteye, said the project would be important in helping improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
The Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to collaborate with AGRA in this project through our Food Waste and Spoilage Initiative. These technologies will not only preserve a greater harvest, but will help increase the small holder farmers’ income, and strengthen their livelihoods through future reduction of post-harvest loss. Mr. Mamadou Biteye, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office
Tanzania is a high priority country for AGRA, which has invested over US$45m there to improve smallholder productivity and incomes, and has helped train farmers in improved agricultural practices, enhanced their market access and increased smallholder farmer access to finance.
One example is Festo Kaduma, from the Njombe region, who has managed to double his maize yields by using Integrated Soil Fertility Management and by planting improved seed.
With his story common across many parts of Tanzania, there are calls for better storage options, post-harvest management and market access.
About AGRA
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programs develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain — from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education. AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains a head office in Nairobi, Kenya; a regional office for West Africa in Accra, Ghana; and country offices in Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Learn more at www.agra.org
About The Rockefeller Foundation
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation pursues this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To achieve these goals, The Rockefeller Foundation works at the intersection of four focus areas – advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities – to address the root causes of emerging challenges and create systemic change. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot – or will not.
For more information, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org
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