Effective Grain Storage in Eastern and Southern Africa: Selected Policy Issues by J. Govereh; T. Tefera & H. De Groote

Outline Outline 1.Food security outlook in ESA 2.Post harvest losses – the forgotten factor 3.Efficacy of alternative storage technologies 4.Policy essentials 5.Incentives to promote on-farm storage 6.Public investments that “crowd-in” private investment 7.Expected outcomes

Food Security Outlook in Eastern and Southern Africa Food Security Outlook in Eastern and Southern Africa 1.Surge in food prices since Drought in North America Continuing price and volume volatility Developing countries who are net importers will face financial burden 3.Risk of intermittent food shortages Inability to adapt to climate change 4.With continuing low productivity and growing demand, long-term structural deficiencies emerging

Harvesting and drying 1. Birds 2. Rodents 3. Insects 4. Missing grains 5. Excessive drying 6. Insufficient drying Threshing and shelling 1. Cracking 2. Brakeage 3. Missing 5. Rodents 6. Birds Transport to store 1. Spillage 2. Breakage 3. Leakage On-farm storage 1. Insects 2. Rodents 3. Moulds 4. Birds 5. Mites Marketing 1. Spillage 2. Rodents 1-4% loss 1-2% loss6-16% loss1-2% loss Transport to market 1. Spillage 2. Breakage 3. Leakage 4-10% loss Overall Cumulative Loss 14-36% Maize post-harvest losses – a forgotten factor

$Billion PHL is a silent killer as losses do not make headline news Large grain borer is now an epidemic Postharvest losses: How big is the problem?

Metal silo SGBs-GrainPro Farmers/ Normal bag Grain storage technologies

Benefits of new methods

Metal Silos & Super bags to be deployed (2012 – 2016)

Policy Imperatives Policy Imperatives 1. Better technology to reduce PH losses necessary but not sufficient to induce greater storage for the market 2. Improved storage and PH handling practices require removing market disincentives 3.It is economic rather than physical losses that matter 4.Successes elsewhere not replicable everywhere Cultural sensitivities a factor

Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage 1.Clear & greater incentives to storage Reduce risks on storage investments o Prices marketing boards pay or receive do not reflect value addition o Export bans, tariff waivers, levies etc., not transparent and predictable

Intra-seasonal average chronological value of grain Intra-seasonal average chronological value of grain

Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage 1.Clear & greater incentives to storage Reduce risks on storage investments o Prices boards pay or receive o Make export bans, tariff waivers, levies etc., transparent and predictable Reduce initial cost of technology to improve returns o 60% of cost is imported metal sheet

Reducing cost of Metal Silos Reducing cost of Metal Silos 1.Tax incentives Zero rating for VAT purposes grain handling equipment and technologies o Metal sheets are multi-purpose, difficult to isolate for tax rebates Accelerate phasing down of duty on equipment and raw materials imported outside region

Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage Promoting on-farm and trader grain storage 1.Clear & greater incentives to storage Reduce risks on storage investments o Prices boards pay or receive o Make export bans, tariff waivers, levies etc., transparent and predictable Reduce cost of technology to improve returns o 60% of cost is imported metal sheet Redress imbalance in subsidy expenditure o Storage inputs in subsidy package

Investment in public services Investment in public services 1.Establish a functioning and upgraded quality assurance and regulatory systems Civic education and human safety 2.Further investments in research and development New storage technologies, new instruments and grain quality standards 3.Develop local capacity to assess magnitude and nature of PHL Baseline data on post harvest losses Regionally standardized loss assessment approaches

Outcomes of EGSP -II Outcomes of EGSP -II 1.Increased uptake of metal silo technology building on lessons learnt in phase 1 2.Alternative and affordable postharvest technology tested and introduced to farmers