Fresh produce stakeholders from Meru county om Wednesday underwent a training aimed at taming post-harvest losses, which eventually eat into their profit margins.
The event, which took place at Kaguru Agricultural Training Centre, was spearheaded by Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya in collaboration with ABSA Bank, Eco-Business Facility and The Moving Frontiers.
Speaking to KNA, FPCK chief executive Ojepat Okisegere said the training taught farmers methods to manage post-harvest losses.
He said Kenya loses between 40 and 60 per cent of fresh produce, especially vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices, through post-harvest losses.
This happens because most of the growers, aggregators and value chain actors do not understand how to manage the losses, he said.
“It is for this reason that we are out to conduct capacity building to the farmers since every post-harvest loss to a farmer is actually a loss for him in terms of business,” Okisegere said.
He said fruits are the most affected in terms of losses, and congratulated ABSA Bank and other partners for being on board to provide facilities required by farmers in terms of technology.
“We are glad to have the partners and we are calling upon other partners as well as the county governments, we hear that they are putting up aggregation centres,” Okisegere said.
“We would like to have a deliberate partnership that allows us to tap into the strengths of each of the partners when it comes to post-harvest losses management.”
He said post-harvest loss was a major subject globally and the world was losing about 40 per cent that could feed more than a billion people if the food was taken care of.
Okisegere said the current trainings, which have also taken place in Nakuru, Kirinyaga and Embu, were pilot projects and they are looking forward to scaling it to other parts of the country, particularly the active areas in terms of vegetables and fruits farming.
Meru Branch ABSA bank manager Kevin Moroche said Meru is economically rich in terms of agriculture, and many people have been employed in the various value addition chains.
He said 40 per cent of the produce is being lost after harvesting, which means that if a farmer was earning Sh10, Sh4 was going to waste, and in effect, the profit margin of the farmer was being wiped away.
“As a bank, we are excited to be part of the partnership, which will eventually elevate the earnings of our farmers,” Moroche said.
Retired Major Gideon Gitonga, an avocado farmer, said the training is an eye-opener and they are now aware of the produce they were losing for ignoring little things like proper handling and transporting them to the market.
“It is an opportune time the training has taken place, and we now know how we can mitigate those areas where we have been losing our money through post-harvest losses,” Gitonga said.
Dinah Anampiu, an agro-dealer and banana farmer, expressed her gratitude for being invited to the training, adding that she will implement what she had learnt to the letter to maximise her profits.
She said she will also become an ambassador to the trainers by way of spreading the gospel to other farmers who did not have a chance to be trained.