Postharvest Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (PHM-SSA) Project

The Postharvest Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (PHM-SSA) Project aims to improve food security (increased food self-sufficiency and incomes) of smallholder farmers in SSA through reduction of postharvest losses of food crops (grains and pulses) by addressing major constraining factors of technology dissemination and adoption, knowledge and information sharing, rural advisory services (RAS) and policies related to PHM.

The PHM-SSA project is coordinated by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation (HSI) and implemented in a consortium with FANRPAN, with AFAAS and AGRIDEA as further partners.

Phase 1 started from April 2013 to March 2017, in 2 pilot countries: Republic of Benin in the communities of Atacora (North) and Savalou (South); and in Mozambique in the communities of Nampula and Cabo Delgado. During phase 1, technologies, methods and practices were developed and tested, that further resulted into elaborating materials on PHM including; technical manuals, factsheets, farmer training materials (Calendar of good practices, flyers). These materials are downloadable from AFAAS online platforms for adaption and use by extension workers in Africa.

Key results: 

• a vibrant input supply and distribution networks for metal silos and hermetic bags were established in Tanzania, Benin and Mozambique; through training and deploying over 73 active local artisans, local production of metal silos was established and over 2,700 metal silos were sold to the farmers. 
• In addition, according to an own survey, over 52,745 farming households directly adopted at least one improved PHM option. There was a 33% reduction in the number of food insecure households in the lean season, and households reported an additional income of over USD 90 per household from saved grain that was sold at higher prices. 
• This approach has attracted interest from policy makers culminating in national strategies and by-laws on PHM being currently developed. There is a wide-scale interest and uptake of PHM solutions by other countries helped by the examples
• Further reading

Phase 2. The project is now in its second phase, implemented from April 2017 to March 2020. The major emphasis of the second phase is on promoting adoption of proven technologies and good practices on PHM to scale, at national and regional level.

Related:
Post harvest Access Agriculture videos

Webinar: The adoption of Post Harvest Management in policies and development plans
25th September 2018. Webinar.