ZANZIBAR: Researchers and stakeholders in agriculture have called upon donors and investors to provide financial support for a program aimed at reducing post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables.
The call was made recently during the closing of a successful research project called ‘Innovative Free-Energy Technologies for Reducing Postharvest Losses of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (FFV),’ conducted by the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).
The event was attended by Dr Abdallah Rashid Mkumbukwa, Dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences at SUZA, held at SUZA’s College of Tourism in the Maruhubi area. He explained that the project will help hundreds of farmers protect their harvested produce.
“Beneficiaries of the five-year project have now reduced the loss of fruits and vegetables after harvest. We would like this program to be extended to other parts of Zanzibar so that many farmers can benefit from this technology,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) for supporting the research with 120m/-, which enabled the training of about 70 small farmers and the construction of an Energy Free Cool Chamber (EFCC) in the villages of Dunga, Bungi, and Shakani. They also established a cool store at the Mwanakwerekwe general market in Unguja.
“We would like to have more development partners to support such important research for the farmers and the nation,” Dr Mkumbukwa said. Dr Bakari explained that Zanzibar’s post-harvest losses on tomatoes were between 10 and 20 per cent at the market level, but the innovation has helped reduce the burden to between 10 and 16 per cent.
Dr Bakari said, “Other benefits of the project include having free energy cold storage facilities for small-scale farmers and traders of FFV, which have been developed to increase shelf-life and maintain the quality of FFV produce. Fifty farmers and twenty small traders have been trained and effectively practice good farming, harvesting, storage, and handling practices of the produce.”
Other benefits of the project include strengthening capacity building in agricultural industries and training two university students to the level of MSc to effectively participate in the horticulture industry.
Dr Rashid Suleiman, a Lecturer from Sokoine University, said a few other regions like Morogoro and Arusha have adopted the technology, helping small farmers better handle their farm produce for several days and minimize losses.
He said post-harvest loss of fruits and vegetables remains high at more than 50 percent globally, particularly in developing countries. In Africa alone, the loss is between 30 and 55 percent, and the “Innovative Free-Energy Technologies stand to avert the losses.”
Mr Sharji Shaaban Ameir, a farmer from Bungi, said, “Some of us who were trained and now apply the technologies have managed to save our fruits and vegetables from rotting and wilting.”
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