Post-harvest food loss is a major contributor to food insecurity and poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Earlier this month, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a dire report highlighting the enormous environmental impact of agriculture. But the report also pointed to a clear way for us to feed more mouths without causing more planetary destruction: We can stop wasting food.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources is calling on the private sector to invest in cereals storage and related technology as part of the efforts to tackle post-harvest losses.
Why do we turn on our radios? For music, entertainment and maybe for news, if we’re feeling virtuous. Hardly anyone in the United States would say they turn on their radios for the advertisements. But if you’re a farmer in Eastern or Western Africa, a radio advertisement could be the difference between your family eating or going hungry.
We use panel data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) administered among 1200 smallholders in Uganda to evaluate input use and food security impacts of an improved maize storage technology.
It’s seemingly very simple: a bag for storing grain after the harvest.
Storing maize for Jonathan Kimuge had always been a major challenge. Every year, Kimuge on average harvested a maximum of 45 bags each weighing 90 kilogrammes, that on average fetched Sh3,000 per bag or a total of Sh135,000.
Agriculture is one of the drivers of Kenya’s ‘Big Four’ agenda that defines the country’s development path in the next five years.
SEKTA ya kilimo ni nguzo muhimu nchini Kenya kwa sababu huhakikishia taifa usalama wa chakula.
The government has put in place strategies to increase food production and productivity to ensure 100 percent food security for all Kenyans.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The internationally recognized Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS)bag, a specially designed bag to prevent insect-caused post-harvest losses for farmers in developing countries, is now commercially available for farmers worldwide.
One of the biggest challenges that confront beans and grains farmers and merchants in the country is how to effectively control weevils and beetles in their stored products.
The summer season is upon us and brings along heat, humidity and insects – not a good combination for stored grain. The Purdue Improved Storage (PICS) bag, is an airtight storage bag that provides a solution for smallholder farmers to extend the storage time for their seeds and crops.
As the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) marks its 50th anniversary, the Institute on Thursday inaugurated a new research station in Ago-Owu in Osun state, Nigeria, as part of efforts to expand its research agenda and create impact at farm level.
Market women in major market centers in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana have adopted the use of a new storage technology called “Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags (PICS bags) aimed at eliminating post-harvest losses for an enhanced food security and poverty reduction.
Kenyan farmers have been urged to invest more in research and modern farm technology to reduce post harvest losses. The message was from stakeholders who attended the first Africa Post Harvest Congress in Nairobi.
For farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, a reusable storage bag can be the difference between making a living and struggling to make it to the next harvest.
Sarah Namwasa of Nakalama, Iganga district is what one would call an early adopter. She owns 30 Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags of the 33,000 sold in the country in 2015.
Grain farmers will benefit from new storage bags, which do not require the use of insecticides to prevent weevils and other pests’ invasion that have for years seen millions of bags of the produce go to wastage.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University formally launched the Purdue Postharvest Initiative with an exhibit at the World Food Prize meeting in Des Moines, Iowa.
A Purdue University entomology professor is changing the lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.
Insect infestation, both in the field and after harvest, is a major threat to legume crops.
The Purdue Improved Crop Storage project was one of several topics discussed June 5-18 at the Borlaug institute on global food security.
Farmers in the region are soon to benefit from local firm's PPTL new technology which will allow them to store crops after harvesting.
The Dormaa West District Best Rice Farmer for 2015, Mr Johnson Opoku, has advised farmers in the country, especially cereal crop producers, to adopt the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags...
A team of Purdue University faculty and staff has received the College of Agriculture's annual TEAM award for the development of crop-saving bags.
Earlier this month I traveled to Babati, located 200km away from Arusha Tanzania.
Better crop storage bags are beginning to be introduced where they are needed most, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Purdue University’s Department of Entomology has worked with farmers to develop a multilayer plastic crop storage bag called PICS (Purdue Improved Crops Storage) bags.
Farmers at every level in Kenya’s staple sectors experience postharvest losses.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The triple-bag technology created at Purdue University to help African smallholder farmers store their crops after harvest also enabled farmers in Sierra Leone to protect their seeds when the Ebola outbreak disrupted agricultural markets.
Lagos — Sometimes the best solutions can appear to be so simple that it's hard to imagine why they weren't invented centuries ago.
Purdue's Distinguished Professor of Entomology, Larry Murdock, has traveled to Africa 60 times to help farmers deal with pest control issues. Today's video and story features his most recent trip, a 10-day tour of Burkina Faso.
A seminar to highlight the health benefits and cost effectiveness of using chemical free grain storage bags was held on Tuesday by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for farmers, traders and other stakeholders.
Professor Joan Fulton of the Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business has called on farmers to adopt appropriate means to store their grains after harvest to reduce post-harvest losses and improve food security.
Effective storage of grains such as maize, beans, cowpea, groundnuts and rice has always been a major challenge to smallholder farmers, not only in the country, but the rest of Africa.
We sat down with Sophie Walker, Chief of Party of the AflaSTOP project.
Farmer groups in various communities in the districts of Kailahun, Kenema, Koinadugu and Kambia have expressed anxiety for the new seed Purdue Improved Crop (PICS) bags.
I wish all of my friends could experience this event which is organized by my friend Dr. Clementine Dabire to enhance the lives of women in Burkina Faso by helping them to store and otherwise benefit from better food. 05/02/2015
Last year, Tanzania had exciting news: a bumper harvest of corn. But even as farmers were celebrating — corn is a staple eaten at almost every meal — much of the crop had already been spoiled, having grown moldy or been infested by insects and rodents. 05/01/2015
Farmers in tropical areas have long struggled to maximize their crop yields, but the strikes against them just continue to mount.
Corn is an integral part of many meals in Tanzania and its neighboring East African countries, but much of the harvest is lost to insects, rats, or mold. Researchers are developing ways to help farmers keep their harvest fresh longer in storage. 04/13/2015
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.
After registering good harvests, many farmers are faced with a dilemma of storing their yields safely as all cannot be consumed or purchased at the same time.
Smallholder farmers in some selected communities in the Talensi District have been trained on how to reduce Post-Harvest Losses using the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags. 02/03/2015
Rural farmer have Malawi join a league of nations to kill weevils without using chemicals or metal silos.
Mitesh Gala and Carl Jensen will each receive a $20,000 grant and a year of mentoring as D-Lab Scale-Ups fellows. 11/18/2014
In West Africa alone, Researchers expect 1.7 million households in West and Central Africa to increase their annual incomes by an average of $150 by using them. That’s a significant increase in a place where most farmers live on about $2 per day.
Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation has invested almost $1 million in grain storage technologies that are appropriate for both on-farm and market trader storage use.
Maize is a key food crop in West Africa, where Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Nigeria account for most of the regional production.
Landlocked in the heart of Sahel, Burkina Faso is ranked second-to-last on the UNPD's 2007 Human Development Index.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., and KANO, Nigeria - Farmers in West and Central African nations could benefit economically, socially and nutritionally using a crop storage system developed by researchers at Purdue University and licensed to Kano-based Lela Agro Industries Nigeria Ltd.
Well-adapted to harsh, arid climates, cowpeas are an important nutrient-rich source of food in many parts of West and Central Africa.
Mobile phones are an important business tool for farmers in rural areas.
