Does sequential harvesting affect the quality of and income from organically grown potatoes?

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.Lack of effective storage facilities to mitigate post harvest losses threatens the profitability of organic farming. In rural KwaZulu-Natal, small scale farmers use traditional storage and sequential harvesting to keep potatoes post maturity while waiting to sell. The effect of these practices on potato quality has not been studied and documented. This study set out to investigate if traditional practices (sequential harvesting and traditional farmer’s store) of the Ezemvelo Farmers Organisation in Umbumbulu affect the quality and marketable quantity of organically grown potatoes. Specifically the study set to investigate the effect of traditional farmer’s store, in situ and controlled storage on the carbohydrate content and sensory quality of potatoes organically grown in Embo by EFO farmers; determine consumer quality expectations of organically and conventionally grown potatoes; investigate the effect of sequential harvesting on the potato quality expectations of consumers and to investigate the produce and income losses experienced by small scale organic farmers at harvest and during storage. Experiments were conducted to compare the effect of sequential harvesting, farmer’s store and controlled cold storage (7oC and 90% relative humidity) on the sensory, appearance and keeping quality of organically grown potatoes. A survey of 100 consumers (40 organic and 60 conventional consumers) was conducted to ascertain consumer appearance and keeping quality expectations of potatoes. In addition, a survey of 101 farmers investigated the storage practices of the EFO farmers who grew potatoes and the type of losses incurred in storage. Preference ranking was used to investigate if time of harvesting post maturity affected potato quality. Produce losses experienced by the farmers were quantified. A co-research group of three seasoned farmers of the EFO participated in the research. They produced potatoes used in the study and provided valuable input to ensure that the study adhered to storage practices of the farmers. The lowest and highest sugar levels were observed in potatoes stored in situ and under controlled conditions, respectively. Potatoes left in situ also recorded higher starch content. Potatoes stored in situ were significantly preferred by sensory panellists (p<0.05) over those stored in both farmer’s store and in controlled storage. Preference rank scores were negatively correlated to total sugar content and positively correlated to starch content. Consumers in the study highlighted five desirable appearance qualities in potatoes: absence of greening, absence of sprouting, smooth skin texture, absence of blemishes and light skin colour. No significant differences in the quality expectations between participating organic and conventional potato consumers were found. The majority of consumers expected potatoes to store for at least three weeks post purchase. Sequentially harvested potatoes met this expectation when potatoes were left in situ for a maximum of six weeks post maturity. Potatoes in situ also maintained good appearance and sensory quality. The highest produce losses were experienced in summer owing to soft rot problems. Production in the drier seasons (autumn and winter) increased the proportions of potatoes too small to be sold as table potatoes. With the exception of completely rotten potatoes, poor quality potatoes were consumed, used as seed potatoes and sold to the local market as seed and for food. Poor potato quality resulted in reduced income for the farmers. This investigation pioneered research into the effect of sequential harvesting on the quality of organically grown potatoes. The findings demonstrate that sequential harvesting provides resource-poor small scale organic farmers with an efficient storage option where other storage methods and technologies may be inappropriate, ineffective or unaffordable. It is recommended that government and other players in the agricultural sector plan initiatives to educate small scale potato farmers on the benefits of sequential harvesting as an effective short term method of potato storage. Research with other potato cultivars in different agro-ecological settings is needed to optimise sequential harvesting. Government policy aimed at training and developing farmer capacity in organic seed potatoes production is essential to ensure that farmers access disease and pest free seed. Farmers also need assistance to access to irrigation resources to improve production

Improving fish post harvest management and marketing in Malawi and Zambia

The project identifies and evaluates interventions to improve livelihood security and gender relations through post-harvest fish value chain innovations: first by targeting the processing node in the value chain to reduce losses and improve the quality of fish being processed; second, by piloting women-sensitive technologies that help decrease time and labor burdens of women; and third, through design and testing of social change interventions that highlight gendered roles and power relations in the value chain, and in particular within the processing node

Impact of Provenance on Phytochemical Attributes of pigmented Landrace Maize Varieties

Maize is one of the most diverse cereal crops that contribute highly in calorie supply to human diet. Pigmented maize secondary metabolites which are phytochemicals of healthy importance include carotenoids and phenolics which act as precursors of vitamin A and antioxidants respectively. Pigmented landrace maize is cultivated by smallholder farmers in their localities. Three different pigmented maize varieties from different growing districts were analysed for total carotenoids content (TCC) and total phenolic content (TPC), using spectrophotometer. The districts experience a warm temperate climate and higher rainfall in summer than in winter but they differ in that Ntcheu has highest average annual temperature of 20.3°C while Dedza receives the highest annual precipitation of about 1010 mm. Mzimba has an average annual temperature of 20.1°C and receives about 915 mm of precipitation annually. Individual carotenoids were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). TCC were significantly higher (p &lt; 0.05) in Ntcheu and Mzimba provenances compared to Dedza. Lutein (22.84 ± 1.25 µg/g) and Zeaxanthin (23.16 ± 2.44 µg/g) were highest in landrace orange maize from Ntcheu. Mzimba provenance showed highest beta-cryptoxanthin (8.60 ± 2.15 µg/g). TPC were not significantly different between Dedza (204.29 ± 0.35 mg/Kg) and Mzimba (207.65 ± 0.22 mg /kg) red maize. Ntcheu provenance showed the least TPC (184.06 ± 0.61 mg/Kg). It seems provenance influenced phytochemical attributes of pigmented landrace maize varieties in some instances. This study also revealed that post-harvest handling of pigmented landrace maize affects phytochemical content. Care should, therefore, be taken in handling pigmented landrace maize to avoid phytochemical loses. Farmers and all other stakeholders in Malawi are encouraged to produce and include pigmented landrace maize varieties in their diets in order to gain the associated health benefits. Further studies are needed for complete characterisation of phenolic compounds of pigmented landrace maize of Malawi.

Improving fish post-harvest management and marketing in Malawi and Zambia

This policy brief provides an overview of the project, which increased the adoption of innovations for post-harvest management of fish and addressed social norms governing benefit sharing across fish value chains. By utilizing the introduced technologies, fish processors increased their gross margins from 4.7% to 25.26%, while traders saw an increase from 22.8% to 25.3%. Poor processing and management of fish products results in losses worth up to US$5 billion each year. Limited involvement of women further weakens the economic value of fish at household, community and regional levels. Women’s ownership of fishing assets increased over the course of the project, from 44% to 76%.Australian International Food Security Research Centr

Gender and livelihood assets: assessing climate change resilience in phalombe district – Malawi

Access and use of livelihood assets are pertinent to recovery from impacts of climate change for rural households. This study investigated role of livelihood assets to recovery from the impacts of climate change for male and female headed households in Phalombe district in Malawi. Using exploratory sequential mixed methods design, qualitative data was collected using Participant Observation coupled with interviews in two successive phases. Quantitative data was collected using household questionnaire involving 217 households. Results show that erratic rainfall and floods are the main impacts of climate change in the study area. Male headed households have better access to human, financial and natural assets compared to female headed households. There is no significant difference on the recovery period from erratic rainfall for either type of household, but male headed households recover much more quickly from floods than female headed households. Results show that social assets are key to recovery from both erratic rainfall and floods for both male and female headed households. Natural assets contribute to recovery from erratic rainfall for male headed households while human assets are important for female headed households. Human assets are vital for recovery from floods for both male and female headed households while physical assets are important for male headed households. The study shows that enhancing social capital and developing human assets especially for female headed households can significantly contribute towards resilience to the impacts of climate change

Successful reintroduction of landrace orange maize in rural Malawi is not related to the nutritional knowledge of women in farming families

Vitamin A deficiency is a global health challenge, particularly in the developing world. Diet based approaches, using locally available foods, are recommended for providing long term, sustainable solutions. The ProFarmer project, initiated in Malawi, encouraged local farmers to re-adopt landrace crop varieties. Orange maize was used as a case study. Over time, reintroducing this carotenoid-rich crop is predicted to increase provitamin A content in the Malawian diet. Furthermore, it is considered a relatively simple, cost-effective approach that has the potential to reduce dependence on food fortification. This study was aimed at evaluating the impact of the reintroduction of landrace orange maize on nutrition knowledge, attitudes and behaviours (KAB) in women of farming families that currently cultivate the crop. Women were selected, as they are largely responsible for food preparation and providing healthy foods for their families. Additionally, the overall diet adequacy in women living in rural Malawi was assessed. A total of 336 females took part in the cross-sectional study. Before the study, the participating farming families underwent a training program run by local Agriculture Extension workers prior to receiving seeds for cultivation. The training included an explanation of the rationale behind reintroducing landrace maize and nutrition education regarding the health aspects of providing provitamin A through locally grown foods. Families that had recently joined the project and families that had already harvested the crop in previous years were included in the study sample. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine KAB regarding orange maize. Diet quality was also assessed using the FAO Minimum Dietary Diversity questionnaire (MDD-W) designed for women. Independent t-tests and Chi-square tests were performed where appropriate. Positive attitudes towards growing and consuming landrace orange maize were recorded. However, only 32% of the women understood the nutritional benefits. Dietary Diversity scores, a proxy for nutrient adequacy, were low with only 34% of women consuming a sufficiently diverse diet. Despite low levels of nutritional knowledge, landrace orange maize was well accepted by families in rural Malawi and presents an affordable, sustainable option for increasing dietary sources of provitamin A. Nutrition education emphasizing the advantages of eating orange maize and expanding diet diversity is recommended in Malawi

InnovAfrica project endline survey data for Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania

A consortium of 16 institutions comprising five institutions from Europe and eleven institutions from Africa implemented a project entitled "Innovations in Technology, Institutional and Extension Approaches towards Sustainable Agriculture and enhanced Food and Nutritional Security in Africa (InnovAfrica)" in six countries of eastern and southern Africa namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania from June 2017 to November 2021. The InnovAfrica project collected endline data from 12 pilot sites (two sites per country) in the third years of the project. The data collected during the Endline survey is presented in this document.There is no restriction to use these data set.Funding provided by: H2020*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: 727201The endline data were collected from 12 pilot study sites comprising two sites each from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania using structured questionnaire and focus group discussion

InnovAfrica project baseline survey data for Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania

A data set was generated thorugh surveys to establish a baseline inforamtion for a project entitled "Innovations in Technology, Institutional and Extension Approaches towards Sustainable Agriculture and enhanced Food and Nutrition Security in Africa (Acronym - InnovAfrica)". The InnovAfrica is a consortium of 16 institutions comprising five institutions from Europe and eleven institutions from Africa and the project was implemented in six countries of eastern and southern Africa namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania from June 2017 to November 2021.There is no restriction to use these data set.Funding provided by: Horizon 2020Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601Award Number: 727201The baseline data was collected from 12 pilot sites (2 sites per country) with in the first 12 months of the project using structured questionnaire. Data was first collected using papper based printed questionnaire and later digitalized in KIPUS system (a smart data software)