From: barnhart@netcom.com (Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:KENYA: TACKLING POST-HARVEST LOSSES
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 05:13:15 GMT
Organization: Netcom
Reply-To: barnhart@netcom.com

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Population
Reference: Agriculture; Commodities
Title: KENYA: TACKLING POST-HARVEST LOSSES


an inter press service feature

by pamphil h. kweyuh

maseno, kenya, aug 14 (ips) -- as an on-farm storage project
continues to gain ground, the problem of post-harvest losses may
soon be a thing of the past in this small town of maseno, on the
boundary of kenya's western and nyanza provinces.

poor storage, bad weather conditions, infestation by insects
and birds and improper processing costs kenya 25 to 30 percent
of is food crop each year.

''post-harvest loss alone if dropped to not more than three
percent could save the country the heavy burden of food imports
and create a surplus for exports'', says kenya's agriculture
minister, elijah mwangale.

the on-farm storage project was founded by the united states
agency for international development (usaid) following the shock
grain shortages of 1990-91. the project seeks to afford
villagers appropriate technology to store and conserve grain
from rodents, mould, insects and bird damage.

caleb omondi, the on-farm grain storage project
officer-in-charge says the project's drive is based on
self-sufficiency in grain throughout the year for the farmer.

the project is being implemented in three phases with the
first dealing with designing, testing, and monitoring of
appropriate storage facilities.

the second phase concentrates on grain storage management
practices through extension programmes including demonstration
of crib construction, training of agricultural extensions
officers in nyanza and western provinces, and field trips to
educate and inform farmers.

the project is just about to start its final phase which
entails expansion to cover all parts of the country.

''all our maize used to be left to dry completely and
fall to the ground. it was a strong held belief that maize
harvested before drying in the field would be less sweet'', says
jared asikoyo, a local farmer.

according to omondi, this is the practice that the project
first had to do away with. ''allowing drying of moisture content
to 13 percent caused moulds to form, as moisture got trapped in
the cobs'', he says. (more/ips)


kenya: tackling (2)

besides, he adds, birds and weevils attacked the maize while
still in the field. ''the crop was already damaged by delays in
harvesting alone''.

''we were harvesting about ten bags per hectare of maize but
lost at least two bags (of 90 kgs). often we had to eat
contaminated grain'', says asikoyo adding that as a result,
villagers were forced to buy maize between april and the next
harvest in september.

farmers are being encouraged to harvest when grain is
physiologically mature -- at 30 percent moisture content -- and
therefore a lot earlier than tradition would have.

the project supports the contruction of 1.5 metre high raised
cribs, for maximum drying room, and to keep rodents at bay,
installs a simple rat guard of scrap tin on the structure's
legs. grain can only be stored after it has been cleaned and
treated against insects.

at lwanda market, five kms south-west of maseno, carpenter
john ageng'o told ips he was over-whelmed by orders for storage
construction from farmers around maseno.

''i'm charging 75 dollars for each crib and in the past two
years, i've had to employ four assistants'', says ageng'o who
supplies a radius of 30 kms.

''in these provinces with a combined population of about 11
million, we have now rescued on-farm loss from an average of 28
percent to three percent. this is what we should achieve for the
country by the next ten years'', says moses makunda of the
ministry of agriculture.

over 2,000 extensions officers are involved in the project,
and more than 100,000 farmers have been already reached.

''the previous approach of the government has failed to live
up to the expectations to the small scale farmer, who produces
70 percent of all our food'', says makunda, head of the
newly created crop post harvest management division.

the government, he says, had concentrated on large-scale
public storage: ''these silos are all created in the main grain
growing areas and thus are of little significance to the
small-scale farmer,'' says makunda. (end/ips/phk/tvh/oa/92)



-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@netcom.com) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african