Article: Matshediso Motshabi
Applying postharvest technology to harvest produce has three main goals: (i) maintaining produce quality (appearance, texture, flavour, and nutritional content); (ii) promoting food safety; and (iii) minimizing food losses between gather and consumption. The secret to achieving the intended goals is not the level of sophistication of any particular technology, but rather the efficient management during the postharvest period. While expensive handling equipment and cutting-edge post-harvest treatments may be advantageous for large-scale farmers, they frequently do not apply to and are impractical for small-scale operators. For small volume, limited resource commercial operations, basic, low cost technologies are frequently more suitable. Let’s define post-harvest loss, food loss, and food waste and see how they are curated in order to create sustainable post-harvest practices.
Post-harvest loss (PHL), which is defined as the deterioration of the quantity and quality of food production from harvest to consumption, was first identified in a study article produced by Kader in 2002. The nutrient/calorie composition, acceptability, physical look, and edibility of a particular produce are all examples of quality losses. Quantity losses, on the other hand, are those that cause the amount of a produce to be lost. While quality loss predominates in developed countries, quantity loss is more typical in third world nations. Food losses were described by the FAO as a reduction in the nutritional value (quality) or edible food mass (dry matter) of food that was initially intended for human consumption. In the food supply chain, food losses occur at the production, postharvest, and processing stages. They are primarily caused by inadequate infrastructure and logistics, a lack of technology, a lack of skills, knowledge, and management capacity on the part of supply chain actors, as well as a lack of markets. Food that is fit for human consumption and is thrown, whether or not it has been held over its expiration date or allowed to expire, is referred to as food waste. The stages in the food chain where food waste is most prevalent are retail, dining, and final consumption. This is frequently referred to as the behaviour of “retailers and consumers.”
It is well known that Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling with severe food instabilities, with post-harvest losses being one of the main causes. In our nation, the challenge of the food supply is primarily addressed by increasing farm productivity and production. In recent years, the discussion of agricultural value chains has been seen as a tool to promote the diversification of locally produced agricultural commodities, but less so as a way to reduce post-harvest losses. According to various studies, the majority of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa suffer these losses because they lack suitable facilities for the preservation of fresh produce. These losses are attributed to poor harvest management and improper or inadequate post-harvest storage facilities. Food loss and food waste will follow post-harvest loss. Botswana was responsible for 15.5% of harvested maize losses in 2021, according to the most recent data from the African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS), which was followed by losses of 7.9% millets and 6.6% of sorghum. Although there is no published information on the post-harvest losses of horticultural crops in Botswana, general observations show that restaurants and retailers, particularly those in affluent urban areas, are the major sources of food loss and waste. Homesteads also play a significant role in food waste.
Small-scale farmers in Botswana carry out very straightforward post-harvest activities such as harvesting, packaging, transporting, and marketing the produce, with little to no awareness of the importance of maintaining quality and no practical understanding on how to do so. This is further explained by the fact that the majority of farmers raise crops with the intention of selling the crop quickly when it reaches maturity. The desire to sell the harvest as quickly as possible might occasionally cause a delay because the majority of important market participants, including retailers, have choices about where to buy the produce and you cannot compel them to buy yours. Farmers will be forced to sell to small businesses and merchants as a result, and if they’re lucky, their entire crop will be purchased. If not, it deteriorates. The result is typically selling your produce to cattle, hog and poultry farmers at a loss. This clearly demonstrates that the majority of local small-scale farmers have no expertise in post-harvest preservation.
Farmers must have access to financial resources to upgrade their post-harvest infrastructure and machinery in order to prevent post-harvest loss at the farm level. The construction of a storage facility to house their produce after harvest is one of the requirements that the horticulture impact subsidy program has so far placed on its beneficiaries. Commercial and medium-sized producers can get loans from financial institutions to create cutting-edge storage facilities. Direct connections between farmers and lucrative markets at the beginning of the production process can also help reduce harvest loss. This is a crucial first step in boosting investment in food loss reduction initiatives. If farmers cannot sell their produce and turn a profit, they will not invest to reduce food losses. Building grain storage facilities is advocated by agronomists to decrease grain losses. The most popular storage containers are made of metal drums and hermetic bags, which, when used properly, can reduce grain losses to almost zero and enable farmers to increase the amount of food accessible for both household consumption and commercial sale. The majority of quantity and quality losses in grain value chains happen during storage and are caused by insufficient grain drying. Aflatoxin poisoning and mould damage, two of the main reasons why grains lose value, can result from this. In many cases, the key to reducing food losses is to assist farmers and farmer organizations in acquiring better drying equipment, from basic tarpaulins and covers to grain drying machinery and shelters that protect from the rain.
To promote the expansion of the agricultural value chain is a game-changer for sustainable post-harvest activities. This includes cold room storage facilities for perishables, appropriate transportation and logistics infrastructure with the required requirements that help prevent food contamination and spoilage when transporting to the market, and agro-processing businesses that add value to the produce (sauces, pickled produce, guaranteed fresh vegetables that are sun-dried or freeze-dried, etc.). The amount of food that is instantly available on the market in Botswana would double if post-harvest losses were effectively managed, and the impact of such an increase on our country’s food security levels would be favourable.
