The performance of this strategic sector for food security is hampered by post-harvest losses oscillating between 10% and 40%. To find appropriate solutions to this problem, GIZ, the German international development cooperation agency, is in Abidjan a hybrid conference on post-harvest losses to reduce losses of agricultural products along the value chain.
During the opening session of this hybrid conference which takes place on December 7 and 8, 2022, the Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adjoumani Kobenan Kouassi, called for an integrated approach with a view to enable agriculture to realize its full potential.
According to some research, he will say, post-harvest losses represent 37% of production and are estimated at nearly 48 billion dollars (about 30,000 billion CFA francs) across the planet. The share of cereals in these losses is 10 to 20%, or 4 billion dollars (nearly 2,500 billion CFA francs).
He said that “the food sector in Côte d’Ivoire contributes 14.7% of the value of GDP and employs more than 2.5 million agricultural workers, the majority of whom are women”. Post-harvest losses affect the country’s main staple food production with “fairly significant losses”.
Post-harvest losses are “around 30 to 40% for plantain, 10 to 20% for cassava, 30 to 40% for yam, around 10% for rice, 20% for maize , 20 to 30% for vegetables and 40% for mango”, he specified.
Mr. Magnus Schmid, coordinator of the agriculture cluster at GIZ Côte d’Ivoire, indicated that this initiative aims to increase the incomes of small agricultural producers, while revitalizing the agricultural sectors through innovations.
The post-harvest loss reduction project also aims to transform the cocoa, cassava and plantain value chains. It is placed under the supervision of the Ministry of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the State of Côte d’Ivoire.
The coordinator of the agriculture cluster of GIZ Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Magnus Schmid, noted that there are “more or less 30% post-harvest losses in the country”, adding that these losses are estimated at several billion francs, without advancing a figure.
To help significantly reduce post-harvest losses, GIZ, through a portfolio of eight projects, wants to support small producers in processing their cocoa beans, and help cassava producers to better preserve and market their products.
GIZ also plans to open a new incubator at the Institut national polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB) in Yamoussoukro to train startups and students to work on post-harvest losses, he continued.
As for Mrs. Stella Gaetani, project manager for economic cooperation and development at the German Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire, she pointed out that this project should make it possible to stimulate “technical solutions for the transformation of after harvest.
Quoting the FAO, Ms. Gaetani pointed out that “around 1.3 billion tonnes of food are still lost globally every year, while the rate of under and malnourished people is increasing”.
“In 2021, 820 million people were starving” and reducing post-harvest losses is a means of overcoming this problem, underlined the project manager for economic cooperation and development at the German embassy in Côte d’Ivoire. of ivory.
According to Mr. Adjoumani Kouassi, post-harvest losses can arise from harvesting, transport, packaging and storage operations. At the harvest level, they are induced by the use of poor techniques that damage the product or leak it when picked.
He noted that the means of storing foodstuffs are still traditional and the cold chains are insufficient. Furthermore, the poor state of the roads and the lack of means of transport reduce access to markets and increase the delay in the sale of products.
The Ivorian minister recommended the promotion and popularization of improved traditional conservation technologies, the development of cold rooms powered by green and solar energy and encouraged the establishment of packaging industries for food production.
The head of international projects at the German Agricultural Society (DLG) Frederick Tipp has signed an agreement with the Regional Center of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM), transferring to this center the website “Innovations post- crops” in order to develop solutions on this theme.
The results of six startups competing on the theme of post-harvest losses have been unveiled. Declared winner, BII Côte d’Ivoire, a structure to fight against waste, loss and food insecurity, comes first followed by Magic Arcad and Edindia, according to data from the jury.