POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT
AGSI’s activities in the post harvest sector are focused on ensuring enhanced value of food and agricultural products in developing countries through the application of cost-efficient and environmentally-sound post-harvest techniques, particularly those which contribute to reducing losses and to increasing the efficiency of the "post-production system"; as well as ensuring a fully-integrated approach to post-production management, with close links to the agro-industries, agricultural engineering, marketing and farm management units.
SYSTEM APPROACHES
Post production activities are an integral part of the food production system involving a series of operations from the producer through to the consumer. These activities are multidisciplinary in nature, involving harvesting, handling, storage and processing, equipment manufacture, as well as food marketing and other off-farm operations.
The concept of a post-harvest "system" implies that post-harvest operations are considered as integrated functions, rather than as separate entities. A draft conceptual framework for a methodical analysis of post-production systems was developed by the Post-Harvest Management Group of AGSI. This framework focuses on individual post-harvest operations, their interlinkages and problems. It constitutes a tool for analysing constraints and bottlenecks in the post-production system and for assessing opportunities for intervention and improvement.
The usefulness of such a prototype analytical framework was proven in a recent project developed in Zambia, which focused on the identification of constraints in the post-production of maize and cassava in four districts. Similar projects will be fielded during the current year.
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
AGSI strongly supports all efforts aimed at improving traditional technologies and introducing new techniques in the post harvest handling and storage of agricultural products, as required for the progress of the agricultural sector in developing countries.
The Special Action Programme for the Prevention of Food Losses (PFL) was launched by FAO in 1978, in order to advise member countries on how crops could be harvested, processed and stored by the farmer in a manner which could maximise their value, and minimise post-harvest losses. Financed by UNDP, donor countries and the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), this Programme has now conducted over 300 projects in FAO member countries worldwide. Primary targeted beneficiaries of this Programme include the small scale farmer, and rural women. The Programme has also assisted many governments in installing laboratories and in directing applied research toward upgrading the "post-harvest systems" within their countries. It has also been involved with training, extension services, field demonstrations, and the preparation of extension documentation. Several technical publications have been written in support of its activities.
(Click here for a listing of publications on Prevention of Food Losses)
Some recent activities of the PFL project include:
PFL projects in Africa: Within the framework of the Prevention of Food Losses Programme (PFL), nearly one hundred projects geared toward testing improved technologies in various post-harvest operations and introducing these improved technologies at farm and community levels were developed in Africa. A Workshop to discuss and consolidate the experience gained was conducted in Accra, Ghana, in July 1994 and was attended by over 50 experts.
PFL projects in Latin America: The PFL Programme has been extended to Latin-American countries in order to improve post-harvest systems, particularly in rural areas. Projects currently on-stream include: a) a project in Ecuador on post harvest and trading of grains and potatoes, geared toward training farmers in the construction and use of storage structures (silos) and in quality control of stored products; b) a project in Bolivia which focuses on improving access to food and reducing poverty in rural areas through the optimisation of agricultural exports; and c) a TCP project in Panama focused on the community system of storage; the commercialisation of grains, cereals and tubers and the transfer of validated traditional post harvest techniques.
ORGANIC FOODS
The growing demand for "organic" foods represents an additional export trade opportunity for many developing countries. However, the high quality standards required for the certification of organic foods , necessitates the use of appropriate methods for maintaining the "organic" nature of these products. AGSI’s activities relevant to organic foods include the preparation of basic guidelines for the handling and storage of organic fruits, vegetables and spices and the establishment of a pilot project in a developing country for testing guidelines for the export of organic food.
INFORMATION NETWORK ON POST-HARVEST OPERATIONS
FAO in collaboration with a number of international institutions actively conducting work in the area of post production, recently established a mechanism of co-operation with the objective of exchanging information and experiences on post harvest operations, and dissemination of this information to other potential users (public or private) in FAO member countries. To this end, an Information Network on Post-harvest Operations (INPhO) has been established by the Post-Harvest Management Group of AGSI in cooperation with GTZ, CIRAD, USAID/KSU.
INPhO is an international reference centre and an instrument for facilitating an exchange of information in the post harvest domain. It consists of three components: (1) a database (which includes full text of selected documents, a databank on post-harvest operations, decision-support tools for entrepreneurs, country and product profiles and a list of research and training institutions); (2) Interactive Communication services; and (3) Linkages to other databases and libraries. Since internet is limited in some parts of the world, relevant information will also be made available on diskettes and CD-ROMs for wider dissemination in FAO member countries.
Under the aegis of INPhO an E-Mail Conference on post harvest of high yielding varieties of rice was conducted in co-operation with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1997. A Compendium on Post Production Operations of selected crops is also being prepared for the INPhO virtual Library. As a cooperative effort, each partner institution is responsible for the quality and management of the data provided to INPhO.
(Click here for a listing of Publications on Post-Harvest Technologies)