Small scale farmers are facing the challenge of access to improved storage technology to boost food security. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost yearly after harvest and before reaching consumers. This has resulted in decreased household income and reduced food availability. There are moves, however, to provide technologies to increase storage and reduce post-harvest losses that DANIEL ESSIET reports.
AMID hunger, Africa needs to invest more in post-harvesting technologies to improve the competitiveness of farm produce, including fruits and vegetables in the global market.
Poor harvesting and preservation technologies result in a decline in their value, and with the growing competition in export markets.
A World Bank report estimated Africa’s grain losses at $4 billion – a loss which could feed 1.6 billion people. These losses were as a result of improper post-harvest handling.
Experts estimated that about 70 per cent of food grains produced in Nigeria is stored in traditional structures either in threshed or unthreshed at home.
The Chairman, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Agro Group, African Farmer Mogaji agrees.
As part of the process of identifying solutions and best practices, he has been on fact-finding trips.
His findings were that the agricultural technology for harvesting was not good enough.
In many cases, long distance transportation of produce from farm to market affected quality due to lack of cold storage facilities within the value chain.
Actions needed, according to him, include improving post-harvest infrastructure, food transport, processing and packing, increasing collaboration along the supply chain, training and equipping producers, and educating consumers.
For Nigeria to position itself to boost food production, the Executive Director, Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Dr. Patricia Onoghoeto Pessu noted that there was a need for robust storage systems that promote food processing and stockpiling reserves to ensure stability in demand and supply.
When it comes to food security, Pessu said the challenge was not about producing more but also about quality.
She said institute’s efforts were to develop quality solutions for the processing of agricultural products useful for small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria.
Findings, she noted, have led to the development of structures and technologies suitable for the storage for cereals and legumes, roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables, meat and fish among others.
She said the institute has discovered solutions to problems of post-harvest loss and food waste.
Efforts, the NSPRI chief continued, were being made to develop effective packaging for agricultural products to enhance their marketability.
As a manufacturer of United Nations certified steel drums, Pacegate recently partnered NSPRI.
The Managing Director, Pacegate, Umesh Amarnani, said his organisation has the technology to produce food, compatible, open head drums which are new in the country.
His words: “As a manufacturer of United Nations certified steel drums, which are suitable drums for export, we knew it was a step in the right direction to offer these drums to the agricultural sector, especially those involved with tomato paste production, mango, orange pulps and also dried food products. It was, therefore, a match made in heaven when the NSPRI approached us with the Hermetic Storage technology to help both households and farmers store their food properly and longer, especially in the era of excessive spoilage and contamination. We, therefore, saw this as a national call, which we aptly accepted.”
He said the hermetic steel drums used by NSPRI for the storage of dried durable products is good for storing grains and dried products such as paddy rice, maize, millet, sorghum, cowpea, cocoa, yam chips, dried pepper and tomatoes etc.
He said: “Hermetic Storage is a method of using sealed, airtight units such as metals, plastics, polypropylene to control moisture and insects in the storage of dried agricultural commodities. The hermetic storage restricts gas exchanges between the internal and external environments and the stored commodity, maintaining the initial levels of moisture and controlling pests by the lack of oxygen. The available oxygen in the internal ecosystem is reduced to lethal or limiting the respiration of any living orgasm with the system.”
He added that the world open top steel drums are being used in large quantities by farmers for packaging fruit pulp (this is after the given fruit has been processed into a concentrate.
He noted “In Brazil, which is the largest producer of oranges, all their pulp is packaged in Open top Steel drums. Same for Mangoes in India, in the season time – one of the largest exporters of mangoes use special bags which are placed in open-top steel drums. Ln the case of Tomatoes again, the global industry standard is to package tomato paste in open-top steel drums. ”
He said steel drums have advantage over other storage methods for the storage of agricultural produce. He explained: “The use of airtight steel drums is effective for the reduction of post-harvest loss in dried durable products such as grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, fisheries and livestock and also reduces the impact of pesticides and aflatoxin contamination.
The Steel drum can be used for storage of dried durable products without the fear of damage by stored product pests (insects and rodents) thereby assuring food safety and protecting the economic value of the products. This method of storage does not require the use of chemicals thereby eliminating the possibility of food poisoning and removing additional costs that may have been incurred as a result of the use of chemicals. The capacity of these steel drums is between 200 to 220 kilogrammes.
Whenever the need arises in the future, developing bigger drums can be considered. We are working closely with NSPRI and other distributors to make the products available wherever needed. With increased demand come increased volumes and economies of scale. We hope the Federal, State and Local Governments will help push the new storage method as it has a lot of impact on the health of the population.”
