For Tanzanian farmers, the grain harvest is in the bag

Corn producers are preparing for harvest season in Kondoa District, Tanzania. The weather has been good and most farmers are expecting exceptional returns.

Amina Hussein, a mother of four in the village of Mnenia, experimenting with a new way of storing her crop

"In the past, producing in normal bags, we would buy them three times a year because we were risking to lose crops to infest infestations, "said Hussein." But since the introduction of this new technology, using hermetic storage bags, we are no longer incurring huge costs to buy chemicals to preserve maize. "

Bags keep the grain dry and fresh.

Amina, who is the president of a local farmers' association, says she had had her own farm. habit of spending precious money on pesticides to preserve one's corn.

Grain Losses

About 85% of the Tanzanian population lives in rural areas and depends on the country. farming for living. Post-harvest oltes are a major concern, especially for cereals, which provide the basis for nutrition and income for rural communities in Tanzania.

Eliabu Philemon Ndossi, a ministry program manager, estimates that small farmers lose between 15 and 40 percent of their crops each year for mold, mildew, insects, rats, and other causes.

1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year in the world. That's about a third of the food produced for human consumption in the world.

And post-harvest loss reduces the income of small farmers by 15%.

Food Security

Researchers from the University of Zurich and their partners seek to reduce these losses. Their project in Tanzania is looking for ways to help farmers keep more grain.

This is a collaborative effort involving government agencies, businesses and international development organizations.

More than 1,000 small farmers in two central regions Tanzania is participating in the project, which is partly using sealed, waterproof storage bags instead of plastic bags or cloth.

The study is being conducted as part of a larger project led by Helvetas Helvetas Rakesh Munankami, project manager at Helvetas, believes that "the reduction in losses is more than 39%. a question of farmers' income "

" If we could reduce the loss after harvest, there would be no problem with the food. Security. This study is important because we would like to see what is the impact at a broader level, how does this affect the volatility of crop prices and how does it affect the food security of small farmers? "He said, and the study has proved a success." According to Michael Brander, one of the leading researchers at the University of Zurich, improving storage on the farm significantly reduces the number of households in food insecurity. "We are now at one year of study and the most amazing results. Until now, we find that the number of people who suffer from hunger has decreased by a third, "he said. "It's particularly amazing because the intervention has worked very quickly."

Munanakami says that he thinks the results can be replicated elsewhere. And project partners hope this will encourage policy makers and humanitarian organizations to focus on preventing crop losses.