The 1st All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition

28-31 March 2017. Nairobi, Kenya. This
Congress, whose theme is “Reducing food losses and waste: Sustainable solutions for Africa” aimed to develop actionable plans to reduce postharvest losses and waste.

The event addressed key aspects of postharvest management related to perishable crops, perishable animal products, non-perishable food commodities, capacity development and related

social issues that affect postharvest management. It included an excursion to see some practical examples of cutting edge projects on the ground.

A key highlight of the Congress was the inaugural All Africa Postharvest Technology and Innovations Challenge which seeks to highlight emerging postharvest technologies and innovations with high potential for scale up.

Extract of the programme:

• Agro-processing, value addition and valorization solutions for postharvest loss and waste. 
• Postharvest handling and technologies for perishable commodities. 
• Postharvest handling and technologies and storage solution for grains 
• Aflatoxin management, food safety and nutrition. 
• Policy, practice, youth and gender angles in postharvest management
• Food loss and waste assessment in agricultural value chains – the Metrics 
• Postharvest handling and technologies for livestock products 
• Innovative strategies, practices, approaches towards postharvest loss management

Symposia: Hosted by four partner organizations

1. Horticulture Innovation Lab (USAID) 
2. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) 
3. SNV World (Netherlands Development Organizations) 
4. Rockefeller Foundation

Symposium of IITA:

30th March 2017. Safeguarding Africa’s food − Are we winning or losing the fight against aflatoxin

 A. Konlambigue (picture left), Managing Director, Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization Program at IITA welcomes participants at the session on Are we winning of losing the fight against aflatoxins.

"From study over 50% of milk in Kenya is contaminated with aflatoxins. Do we pour it all out? What next? Standards and regulations are good but not a total solution in face of high levels of aflatoxin in crops. Public understanding is low: what worries them does not kill them what kills them doesn't worry them" Delia Grace Scientist, ILRI

Item/Title of Presentation
Registration	Susan Karonga
Introduction : Purpose of the symposium,  speaker introduction and summary of symposium’s process	Dr.  David Githanga
Opening remarks	Dr. Victor Manyong,, IITA,
Presentations
The aflatoxin problem and impact on food security, health and trade, and initiatives to make Africa aflatoxin-safe	Elizabeth Ogutu, PACA
Technologies, policies and institutions for aflatoxin mitigation
Pre and post-harvest technologies for aflatoxin management and recent approaches to mitigation.	Dr. George Mahuku, Plant Pathologist, IITA East Africa
Markets and potential challenges in uptake of interventions for aflatoxin mitigation in the African context	Dr. Vivian Hoffman, IFPRI
Policies, institutions and awareness raising for aflatoxin mitigation	Stanley Kimere, FAO
Scaling up and public/private sector experiences
Private sector perspectives on aflatoxin management in food systems	JB Cordaro, MARS Inc
Scaling-up of grain drying and storage technologies	Sophie walker, ACDI-VOCA
Experiences as an implementer as a learning tool for upscaling aflatoxin interventions	Babangona
Experiences in the adoption process of aflasafe and other aflatoxin mitigation tools for use in the irrigation scheme	Dr. Rapahel Wanjogu
Panel Discussion (Moderator: Mary Onsongo)	USAID EA
Lessons learnt from the past and building consensus on next steps in further reducing aflatoxin contamination and its effects
Chebii Kilel	Head of Food Crops Directorate, AFFA
Martha Byanyima	COMESA
David Githanga
Kevin Manyara	Operations Manager , Cargill
Deliah Grace	Scientist, ILRI

Related:
Published on 28 Mar 2017
Post-harvest food loss is a major contributor to hunger and undernutrition affecting farming families across Africa. Aflatoxin moulds, spread by insects inside of traditional storage units,are one of the leading causes of cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, during the first three months after harvest farmers loose up to 40% of their harvest to insects, pests, mould, and moisture. Now, smallholder farmers across Africa have a choice for a better future. In WFP's Zero Food Loss Initiative, hermetic (airtight) storage is paired with effective training to drastically reduce losses, increase incomes, bring farmers closer to markets.

Announcement: 7th African Grain Trade Summit (AGTS)