Improvement of food storage facilities and promotion of the use of post-harvest technologies

Type of practice Reduce

Name of practice Improvement of food storage facilities and promotion of the use of post-harvest technologies

Name of main actor Gambia’s Departments of Agriculture and Energy

Type of actor(s) Farmers, Public authority

Location Gambia

Stage of implementation Farm, Harvesting, Storage, Transport

Year of implementation 2012

What was/is being done? The Gambia’s Departments of Agriculture and Energy have adopted a holistic approach to address a number of environment-related issues of primary importance, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, reduction of GHG emissions, postharvest losses, food security and sustainable development. In establishing the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) Programme, the Gambia has committed to wide investments to improve transportation infrastructure and the allocation of funds to support research to address adverse trends in the farming system. But NAMA also includes a project aimed at promoting and facilitating the use of post-harvest and food processing technologies to reduce food losses and enhance quality-food availability, thus reducing the need to convert virgin lands and forests for farming and, in turn, the emission of GHGs. The proposed project is to take place between 2012 and 2025, with an overall cost of US$ 3.25 million covering, inter alia, capacity building and the improvement of sustainable technologies for cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing harvested food. NAMA identifies a number of issues and the related potential solutions. Some examples regard the protection of premature grazing, appropriate harvesting, storage, and utilization and preservation techniques to reduce food losses.

Outcomes and impacts As the project just started, results aren't available yet