Contribution Of Post-Harvest Loss Prevention To Household Food Availability: A Case Of Helvetas Project In Kongwa And Kondoa Districts

ABSTRACT

This study provides scientific evidences on the contribution of Post-harvest loss prevention trainings to food availability in the households of smallholder farmers. It focused on Grain Post-harvest Loss Prevention trainings provided by Helvetas-Swiss GPLP Project to smallholder farmers in Kongwa and Kondoa Districts in Tanzania. The study used cross-sectional research design and mixed method to guide the findings. Focus Group Discussion, Personal Observation, and Documentary Review were used to collect data from sample of 98 respondents. Thematic data analysis was used for qualitative data, while quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics using SPSS Version 20.0. ANOVA and Chi-square tests were utilized to compute the significances, particularly on the contribution of the offered trainings to food availability in the households of smallholder farmers. The findings revealed that, trainers used Participatory Training Method. Majority (94%) of respondents considered trainings provided to be useful. About 54% of the respondents managed to reduce more than 20kg loss of grain in the storage, per each 100kg bag of maize, per season. Furthermore, 78% of respondents managed to reduce about 5-15kg loss of grain in the field, per each 100kg bag of maize. Additionally, food storage duration increased to 9-10 months for 63% of respondents after receiving trainings on GPLP, compared to 3-4 months of storage realized by most farmers, before they received trainings on GPLP. Overall the study concluded that, offered trainings on GPLP contribute significantly to increasing food availability in the households of smallholder farmers. Finally, it recommended trainings on GPLP to be strengthened in Tanzania to foster the nation‟s food availability