The African Union Commission in partnership with a multi-stakeholder consortium composed of diverse regional and global partners including research & academic institutions, development partners, non-governmental organizations, and private sector actors led by the University of Nairobi and University of Johannesburg held the 3rd All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition, from 13th – 16th September, 2021 under the theme “Postharvest Loss Reduction for Sustainable Food Systems”.

The theme is aligned with the 2021 UN call to action towards sustainable food systems. It is evident that food loss and waste reduction is critical in ending hunger in sustainable food systems. When 1.3 billion metric tons of food is lost/wasted annually in a world where 820 million people continue to go hungry every day, it is time to change how we produce and consume our food.

The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) participated in the event by holding a Virtual Exhibtion, where presented and showcased its postharvest and Agro-processing interventions that has improved the livelihoods of thousands of farmers in Africa.

Over the last 35 years, SAA has greatly contributed to the reduction of postharvest loss through training of value chain actors, introducing improved postharvest storage and agro-processing technologies, as well as organizing and training youth groups for postharvest service provision. Through these efforts, SAA has helped enhance the income of rural communities in Africa. Furthermore, these SAA Interventions have facilitated the adoption of improved pre-and postharvest and agro-processing technologies and practices that are labor saving, reduce postharvest losses, increase productivity and food quality, and increase income of smallholder farmers and processors in Africa, including women, youth and PwDs. SAA’s contribution was recognized by H. E. Amb. Josepha Sacko in her opening remarks during the official opening of the Congress.  

In his keynote remarks, Dr. Makoto Kitanaka, the SAA President, emphasized the need for capacity building to reduce postharvest loss and waste in Africa. Dr. Mel Oluoch, SAA’s Regional Director, shared SAA’s experience in “saving Africa’s harvest during and post COVID-19 pandemic”. SAA staff from Ethiopia and Mali presented papers on lessons and evidences from SAA’s postharvest interventions.