Dr Agens Kalibata, the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution Africa (AGRA) has underscored the importance of working with the private sector to drive investment to reduce post harvest food loss.
She was speaking at the 2024 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA2024) in a session titled “Opportunities To Unlock Private Sector Investment In Countries” as part of the Champions 12.3 event on reducing food loss.
The entomologist said there have been major supply chain disruptions including climate change and insect attacks that make food loss a big deal.
“The most important thing is, at the farm level, a farmer goes to farm expecting to gain at least around 30%. They are looking for a yield differential of about 30%. For loss and waste, you actually lose more than that. So is it worth all the cost that the farmer puts in? Basically, your net gain is a loss because you put in so much, and then you end up losing everything.
“Away from the farm, we just lose so much food because we don’t appreciate how much it costs to get food on the table. The Green Climate Fund is trying to find ways of contributing to the reduction of food loss in third-world countries,” Dr. Kalibata said.
The Agriculture Transformation Office of Tanzania is working with AGRA, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McKinsey, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on reducing post-harvest food loss. It is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries to transform the agriculture sector.
Speaking at the same meeting, Ms. Elizabeth Missokia, the Director at the Agriculture Transformation Office Tanzania, said food loss, and post-harvest loss, especially in Tanzania, is one of the biggest problems.
In Tanzania, 65% of the population works in the agriculture sector, the majority of them being women and youth. Agriculture contributes about 28% of the GDP.
“However, we are losing so much crops like barley, maize, cassava, and horticulture, and dairy produce, and also things such as meat and fish and eggs. And, you know, the causes include infrastructure, but also policies around supporting or providing a conducive environment for investment has been a major challenge.”
The Agriculture Transformation Office is working with the AGRA and Norwegian Embassy in Tanzania to advocate for better policies for a conducive environment. In Tanzania, both the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock and Fisheries have a very strong political will to embrace the private sector in making sure that farmers have access to markets.
“We have inadeqaute food processing industries and storage facilities. The storage facilities that are available are very few, and they are not in the rural areas where the farming is happening. And also cold chain facilities are very minimal. Both ministries are working hard in terms of putting more investment in building port facilities.
“But still, there is a bigger room for private sector and investors to invest. We are strongly encouragingthe private sector to come and invest in Tanzania, because we are now working on policies that will ensure that the investment is safe, but also that there will be positive yields out of that,” she added.
