Ph standards training

Africa RISING-NAFAKA trains Producer Organizations on grain standards, quality improvement technologies, and postharvest aflatoxin management in Mbeya, Tanzania.

Grain quality standards and specifications are important because they formalize the language of trade, and therefore protect farmers, processors and consumers from exploitation. They safeguard safety, nutritional value, and the worth of maize in the market. Buyers often judge quality of maize by the overall appearance. The quality is diminished if some of the grains are damaged by insects or other pests, discolored, moldy, broken, shriveled or contaminated by non-grain matter of organic or inorganic origin.

This week (June 14, 2018), Africa RISING-NAFAKA project successfully completed training of 188 leaders of producer organizations and 41 extension staff as farmer trainers on grain quality standards, quality improvement technologies, and postharvest management of aflatoxin in Tanzania’s southern highlands. Trainees were drawn form 71 producer organizations spread across 87 villages in four districts: Mbozi, Momba, Waging’ombe and Mufindi in Mbeya region. Out of the total number trained 80% were male, and 20% female. Youth comprised 23%. Through these farmer trainers, at least 6000 smallholder farmers will be reached in the coming one month. Farmers will be equipped with skills to assess produce quality, which in turn will enable them take informed quality improvement decisions and therefore be able to cut down on costs associated with poor quality. The implementation of quality improvement measures by farmers to meet grain quality standards should cause desirable impacts e.g. (1) enhanced food safety by ensuring agreed limits for contaminants are not exceeded; (2) improved nutritional value by safe-guarding overall produce quality; (3) better grain marketing by enabling producers and buyers to transparently determine the true worth of produce; and (4) increased productivity as farmers move to adopt technologies that improve quality of their produce so that they can earn more.

See Yammer post here: https://www.yammer.com/africa-rising/#/Threads/show?threadId=1106327543