By Nancy Marangu, Kimwaga Mhando and Jacinta Mwau
The first-ever Africa Climate Summit concluded in Nairobi in early September with a raft of commitments to help African countries cope with the vagaries of climate change. The impact of climate change has perhaps been most felt in the agricultural sector which has been left exposed to at best erratic rainfall – and at worst – droughts and floods. Climate change has also been linked to fall armyworms and desert locusts, both of which can wipe out entire crops.
While most attention when it comes to agriculture and climate change has rightly been on production, one important area that is less talked about is post-harvest losses (PHLs) which are essentially losses of crop production and/or their quality before they reach the end-users (processors and consumers) due to, among others, poor storage and handling after harvest. PHLs represent a waste of production resources be it water, land or farm inputs. Basically, with PHLs, we are getting less final productive output per unit of input. At a time when climate change is disrupting production patterns, the agricultural sector can ill afford such losses. The persistent burden of PHLs perpetuates the cycle of poverty for smallholder farmers. Moreover, the compounding effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods, increased pest and disease pressures, lead to poor crop production, hunger, lost livelihoods, and food safety concerns.
It is noteworthy that Tanzania faces an annual loss of nearly 20% of its crop due to PHLs, nearly 1 in every 5 bags of grain produced by farmers. Out of the roughly 6.4 million metric tons of maize produced annually, the country loses a staggering 1.3 million tons of maize, valued at over Tshs 640 billion ($275 million). For context, this loss is more than twice the size of the entire agriculture sector budget for the 2021/2022 fiscal year. The gravity of such losses undermines efforts to combat hunger, diminishes strategies for generating export revenue, and hampers the overall earnings of farmers.
The key to mitigating these losses lies in the adoption of hermetic storage (HS) technologies as a potential solution for both PHLs and the impacts of climate change. Hermetic storage facilities operate by reducing the oxygen available to pests within commodities, thwarting their multiplication and enabling pest control without the need for pesticides. These HS products not only effectively curb post-harvest losses but also provide a safer storage option, preventing food grain contamination while contributing to climate governance. The Eastern Africa Grain Council with support from the USAID Kenya Crops and Dairy Markets Systems (KCDMS) program and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has been at the forefront of promoting the use of Hermetic Storage Technologies in the East Africa Region given their proven benefits in structuring grain trading systems. Today, Tanzania and fellow East African Countries subscribe to harmonized Hermetic storage bags specification standard EAS 985-1:2020.
In Tanzania, hermetic storage bags constitute the predominant HS technology, accounting for over 95% of all hermetic storage product sales. However, the prohibitive cost of these bags, retailing at five times the price of conventional polypropylene (PP) bags (Tshs 5,000 per bag compared to Tshs 1,000 for a PP bag), poses a significant barrier to adoption by farmers. Moreover, the imposition of taxes, particularly Value Added Tax (VAT) on HS products, acts as a further impediment, especially considering that most other agricultural tools and products remain tax-free. The VAT inflates the cost of these storage products beyond the means of most smallholder farmers.
It is thus important to make HS products and other post-harvest solutions for affordable to farmers. A good starting point is the removal of VAT. If VAT is eliminated and the uptake of hermetic bags increases by 50% among current users while non-users adopt two bags each, a potential additional saving of 40kg of grain annually is realized. This translates to 160,000MT of maize grain saved, worth Tshs 56 billion (US$ 24 million) annually. Over the 3-year lifespan of a hermetic bag, this cumulative saving would reach 480,000MT of maize grain, spared from losses and made available for trade and consumption across Tanzania.
Beyond removing taxes, it is also vital to continue efforts to promote and facilitate structured trade of agricultural commodities. Structured trade by definition entails compliance with rules and standards during trade and thus provides ideally a price and market incentive for value chain players to invest in practices that improve quality and volume of production, which include adopting HS products. By collectively addressing post-harvest losses and the effects of climate change, Tanzania’s agriculture can become more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable.
Conclusively, the effective utilization of hermetic storage technologies transcends mere economic relevance; it is a pivotal stride towards combatting hunger, reinforcing food security, and empowering farmers to flourish despite climatic challenges. The removal of VAT on hermetic storage technologies represents a pivotal moment for Tanzania’s agricultural advancement, productivity, and prosperity. By embracing these changes, Tanzania can thrive in sustainable and resilient agriculture in the face of the changing climate change.
