Enterprise

Big catch for farmers in Nairobi post-harvest loss talks

maize

Harvesting maize in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County: It is estimated that 30 per cent of produce is lost to mishandling. PHOTO | FILE

Nairobi is hosting a post-harvest conference in March, an event that is expected to benefit Kenyan farmers keen on lowering losses running into millions of shillings due to mis-handling of crops.

The three-day All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition starting March 28, will be hosted by the University of Nairobi in partnership with a consortium of Kenyan universities, research organisations, the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Food Preservation Centre (WFPC).

Themed Reducing Food Losses and Waste: Sustainable Solutions for Africa, the meeting targets defining solutions to reverse the trend where an estimated 30 per cent or 1.3 billion metric tonnes of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted along the supply chain.

Kenyan farmers lose about 1.5 million bags of maize as a result of post-harvest losses every year, in what has been blamed for the cyclic food shortage in the country.

“These losses result in at least 15 per cent lost income for over 470 million actors across the agriculture value chain and this congress will provide an opportunity to respond to the calls for action outlined in United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” said Peter Mbithi, the University of Nairobi vice chancellor.

It is the first such congress to be held in Africa and provides a platform “to learn, share information and build strategic partnerships with the overall objective of identifying effective interventions to reduce food loss waste,” said Prof Mbithi.

Kenya continues to experience huge food loss and waste as a result of poor post-harvest management, he added.

Rockefeller Foundation, FAO, AU Commission, Agra, East African Grain Council, East Africa Trade and Investment Hub (USAID) and Postharvest Education Foundation are supporting the talks.

Other sponsors are Horticulture Innovation Lab (USAID), Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.