WFP in action for PHL reduction in Zambia

The Senior Programme Assistant Susan Chipeta describes for the CoP members the WFP intervention for reducing PHL undertaken in Zambia and implemented through two different actions and in collaboration with other institutions.

Suffocating Insects to Save School Meals. An airtight solution, which is using a very simple yet effective invention to suffocate insects and save school meals within its Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. The invention requires heavy duty plastic bags developed by Purdue University called Perdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags. Grain is put inside two layers of plastic bags, which go inside a standard grain bag. The plastic bags are tied airtight suffocating micro-organisms and insects already inside the bag and preventing others from entering from the outside. Access a photo-stream here. Apart from using the bags WFP is also promoting the use of the PICS bags among farmers to help increase their incomes and food security. Demonstration sites were set up for farmers to see the effective of the bag.

WFP also partnered with the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) under the Ministry of Agricuture (MOA) and introduced metal silos as an improved storage technology to mitigate the food losses in schools. The Metal Silos Project was to build on the successes and lessons learnt from the CIMMYT supported Effective Grain Storage Project (EGSP Phase I) piloted in Kenya and Malawi between June 2008-Feb 2011 and the follow up Phase II project being implemented in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Zambian leg of the phase II project was implemented in Chipata and Katete Districts in the Eastern Province. The project had 96,000 and 80,000 registered farmers in Chipata and Katete districts respectively. Activities under this pilot include training of artisans in metal silos fabrication and training of farmers and extension staff in the use of metal silos. Through P4P, WFP bought five silos to test their effectiveness at school level as a pilot in Katete district.

Beneficiaries’ perspective of the EGSP Phase II project was very positive. Farmers explained that for the first time,  they could now store maize without chemicals for more than 6 months. Farmers in both districts were able to store and maintain the quality of maize until the next year’s harvest. Many (160 Katete and 200 Chipata) farmers submitted demand lists for the 30% subsided silos in all areas of piloting, it all points to the positive perception about the technology. Women appreciated the reduction in their workload due to family involvement in shelling. In addition, farmers indicated that using silos enabled them to know the quantities of grain loaded and that remaining throughout the consumption period which assisted them to plan their consumption unlike when they stored on the cob. Farmers also pointed out that they could now see the possibility of selling their maize at premium prices if they stored in silos and sell when prices were attractive in the period November to March. The schools and farmers alike who accessed silos have reduced preprocessing (milling) the maize especially towards the rainy season as a way of avoiding inevitable pest damage since the introduction of silos. This has led to consumption of mostly nutritious and tastier freshly ground maize meal unlike when they preprocessed maize to be consumed in the ensuing months as it would develop moulds and lose taste.

Photos: Demonstration site (Photo: MOA/Khosa Moffat) and Training people how to use PICS Bags properly. Through local non-governmental organisations, WFP is helping to train farming organisations and cooperatives on how to use the bags correctly. Here a farmer tests to ensure there are no holes before using it. (Photo: WFP/Evin Joyce)