Second International Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Post-harvest Management (ESPHM)

In occasion of the National Postharvest Week, about 120 participants attended the two-day Second International Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Postharvest Management (ESPHM) held from 6 to 7 December 2019.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopian Society of Post-Harvest Management (EPPH), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), organized the first-ever National Postharvest Week in December 2019. The adoption of the National Postharvest Week that will be marked annually demonstrates the commitment of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to reducing post-harvest losses in the country.

The Week was marked with different activities led and coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with Ethiopian Post-Harvest Management Society, FAO, and other partner institutions.

The Conference delivered five sessions of different but complementary themes; through three research presentations, and in-depth discussions that generated recommendations.

Researchers, entrepreneurs and extension workers from different institutions participated in the Conference, either as presenters and moderators or in the discussions.

The National Postharvest Week (8-9 December 2019)

Up to 71 participants drawn from various government offices, as well as NGOs, academia, research institutions, international organizations, the private sector, media, and donors/sponsors attended the National Post-Harvest Week. The events included a brief orientation of participants followed by a visit to markets to see how grains and horticultural produces are handled and what the degree of losses looked like. The plenary and group discussions focused on the content and implementation modalities of the National Post-Harvest Strategy. The participants also discussed the Ministry of Trade’s experiences, challenges and impact of postharvest handling of Ethiopian commodities in international markets. Mr. Abdulsemed Abdo, the Special Advisor to the State Minister on Agriculture led the discussions.

Key issues and recommendations from the first National Postharvest Week and Second ESPHM:

Review policy frameworks and guidelines

• The existing National Postharvest Management Strategy is for grains only. The Strategy should be reviewed to expand its scope into more perishable agricultural commodities such as horticultural crops and animal products (meat, dairy, poultry, and fish);
• Review/ develop comprehensive national post-harvest policies and strategies to include/mainstream trade and climate change issues;
• Develop and implement regulatory guidelines (mandatory or voluntary) for standard post-harvest practices within the context of the country.

Enhance coordination and Private Public Partnership

• Set up institutional leadership and coordination structure for post-harvest management issues within the Ministry of Agriculture;
• Organize Post-Harvest Week annually/on regularly to create awareness and facilitate information exchange on post-harvest management issues among stakeholders;
• Map post-harvest management stakeholders and conduct regular meetings and forums to facilitate information sharing;
• Harness Public-Private sector Partnerships initiatives in post-harvest management and agro-processing.

Develop information systems

• Conduct a systematic assessment/inventory and upscale all appropriate technologies (with practical success stories) of post-harvest handling technologies;
• Develop information and Communication Technologies to popularize post-harvest management solutions and address the critical issues of post-harvest losses in the country;
• Develop a national harmonized database for postharvest loss for grain, and horticultural and livestock products.

Establish financial mechanisms to scale up post-harvest technologies and practices

• Provide financial support and design enabling policies on subsidies and tax exemptions for post-harvest management technologies;
• Develop innovative financing models for post-harvest technologies, to assist farmers in adopting the technologies;
• Strengthen market linkages among micro-finance institutions, fabricators of post-harvest handling technologies and smallholder farmers.

Address post-harvest management capacity gaps

• Foster collaborative efforts among government organizations, the private sector, international institutions and development partners to address the capacity gaps in post-harvest management;
• Review the existing Technical and Vocational Education and Training and universities’ curricula to strengthen the post-harvest management component in order to impart the requisite and appropriate skills into students;
• Organize targeted training for extension service providers in order to fill in the prevailing knowledge and skill gap in post-harvest management among farmers;
• Empower youth and women to be at the center of post-harvest management and agro-processing in the country; and
• Strengthen farmer-based organizations such as cooperatives to support training; provide market information, credit and saving; and promote of post-harvest handling technologies at community levels.