Did you know the amount of food loss in Africa exceeds the total value of food aid received in Sub Saharan Africa over the last decade? These estimates by the World Bank further reveal significant volumes of food are lost after harvest. Ironically, food insecurity is still a menace affecting more than 100 million people, a situation worsened by severe drought in some parts of the Continent such as Horn of Africa, crop failures, conflicts, changing weather patterns and poor post-handling practices by different stakeholders along the food value chain.
A lot of attention is centered towards increasing food production as compared to efforts on reducing food loss and food waste. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted annually while 870 million people go hungry in Africa. Some of the major causes of food loss include: poor handling of produce at farm level, processing, packaging and during transport. Insufficient knowledge of post-harvest technologies and handling practices is also a contributing factor.
ColdHubs – Nigeria
Agriculture is inherently a risky business because its products are perishable; meaning its likely to spoil, decay or become unsafe for consumption if not stored well. This necessitates the use of cold storage equipments to prolong shelf life of agricultural produce while preventing food loss and increasing income for farmers and traders. Cold storage involves use of renewable energy/electric equipment to preserve perishable food such as fruits, vegetables, milk and meat from going bad due to unwanted fungi or pathogens. With cold storage equipments, one can regulate temperature ideal for the product being refrigerated, transport it to different markets (local & international) without fear of spoilage, its cost effective and facilitates a longer shelf life for different agriculture/livestock value addition products. Traditional methods of food preservation included: drying, salting, frying, fermentation and smoking.
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