Learning How to Protect Crops

INTRODUCTION

A recent study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated global food loss and wastage at 1.3 billion tons a year, which it calls a “major squandering of resources.” The amount of food wasted is shared almost equally between industrialized and developing countries. But while developing country losses are largely the result of pests, diseases, poor storage and inadequate transport for agricultural produce, in richer countries, perfectly edible food is rejected by retailers or thrown away as household waste.

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The waste in developed countries is tremendous. But we can always take a look to what is happening in a developing country. About 20km from the Angolan border in semi-arid northern Namibia, Paulus Amutenya, a small-scale vegetable farmer, has managed to more than double his output with drip irrigation and soil conservation techniques over the past four years. But growing is only part of the battle. Mounds of rotting butternuts and onions lie in his yard.

Amutenya was involved with a UN Development Program (UNDP) pilot project aimed at helping communities adapt to climate change. While Amutenya was better off than before, he still lost thousands of dollars worth of vegetables every year because he did not have cold-storage facilities and access to markets to sell his surplus. When 2011 began, it seemed no different. “I even tried the local supermarket at Outape [the nearest town, about 45km away], but they prefer bringing their vegetables in from their regular suppliers in South Africa,” he said.

Then he and 49 other small-scale farmers, who had benefited from the project, linked up with UNDP to pool their income to build a cold-storage facility and start a market. The farmers raised almost US$19,000, with UNDP contributing more than $200,000. “We hope to open the market soon,” he said. They also intend to supply neighboring communities across the border in Angola.

Meanwhile, more basic issues, such as lack of storage and access to any market at all, account for a large portion of food losses in developing countries, the FAO report says. Developing countries lose about 630 million tons of food every year – 30% in the field, said Shivaji Pandey, director of FAO’s plant production and protection division. Andreas Shimbolweni, manager of the UNDP project in Namibia, said reducing these losses “has to be built in governments’ strategies; small farmers cannot do it by themselves.”

Many developing countries have to contend with high temperatures and humidity, which increase vulnerability to disease and spoilage. Also, in developed countries, almost all seeds available to farmers are resistant to diseases and temperature swings, which is rarely the case in developing countries, said Pandey. Practical Action is one of many NGOs looking for solutions in countries where electricity and fridges are beyond the reach of most. Neil Noble of its technical information service says it has developed two kinds of coolers, which are being tested in Sudan and Nepal.

First, a clay urn with two chambers, one with water to keep the produce, stored in the inner chamber, cool. This was introduced at the household level in Sudan to help families store their vegetables and fruits for longer periods of time. The other cooler is constructed on the ground with clay bricks using the same principle. “You can store bigger quantities in these containers, including staple grains,” said Noble. www.irinnews.org

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