Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and US-based Rockefeller Foundation has launched a new grain storage facility for smallholder farmers in Tanzania
According to AGRA, the storage facility would help reduce the costs of inputs to small scale farmers while at the same time solving the challenges of post harvest losses.
The facility would also offer grain storage over an extended period without affecting the viability of the grain. The facility has been designed to accumulate from five metric tonnes to 90 metric tonnes of agricultural produce and had a life span of more than 10 years, added AGRA.
Sophia Kaduma, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of Tanzania, said, “The facility could be used to preserve crops such as maize, sorghum, beans and rice, allowing for the aggregation and storage of produce from multiple farmers.”
Kaduma noted that the high technology storage facility being implemented by AGRA would help small scale farmers to increase both production and allow their produce to fetch good prices at local and international markets.
