Fighting food losses in Tanzania : the way forward for postharvest research and innovations

Huge postharvest (PH) losses are a threat to food security, incomes and livelihoods of many households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Annual value of PH losses for grains alone exceeds USD 4 billion. In Tanzania domestic food production is barely sufficient to meet national food needs. Many households experience protracted periods of food shortage. As a result, over USD 200 million is spent annually to import food. Managing PH losses could potentially offset this food deficit. Past interventions to reduce PH losses targeted improvement of handling and storage practices through transfer of single and standalone technologies, particularly for root crops and maize. Efforts were channelled to individual smallholder farmers. Success stories of this strategy, however, are not many. Since the food crisis that began in 2006, the global food situation has become a critical issue. There is now global consensus that mitigating food losses that occur between harvesting and consumption offers the single, most enormous opportunity for contributing to hunger alleviation in SSA. However, with changes in demographics and consumer needs that have taken place in the recent past, governments, development agencies, donors and research institutions must adopt new PH loss mitigation strategies adapted to specific conditions. Demand-driven approaches that explore worth in value addition and alternative uses of postharvest products and by-products should be given attention