Senegal/A project to reduce crop losses launched in Touba

Alpha Ba, Secretary of State for Cooperatives and Peasant Management, launched a project to improve post-harvest management in Touba (central Senegal) on Tuesday, implemented by FAO, the UN agency in charge of food and agriculture, in partnership with the Senegalese government.

The project, entitled "Amélioration de la gestion post-récolte dans les chaînes de valeur agroalimentaires prioritaires pour réduire les pertes alimentaires" (Improving post-harvest management in priority agri-food value chains to reduce food losses), was officially launched in the presence of Touba mayor Abdou Lahat Ka, and FAO West Africa sub-regional coordinator Bintia Stephen Tchicaya.t was officially launched in the presence of the mayor of Touba, Abdou Lahat Ka, and the FAO sub-regional coordinator for West Africa, Bintia Stephen Tchicaya.

In Senegal, we are making significant progress in agricultural production, but a large part of this effort is still lost between the field and the plate", emphasized the mayor.The Secretary of State for Cooperatives and Farmers' Support at the launch ceremony.

He pointed out that post-harvest losses can exceed one-third of harvested volumes, particularly for horticultural produce.

In his view, reducing agricultural losses is an essential lever for enhancing the value of farmers' work, reinforcing food security and guaranteeing the availability of quality foodstuffs at affordable prices.

Alpha Ba believes that the project should enable Senegal to adopt a national strategy to reduce post-harvest losses and food waste.

For her part, the FAO's sub-regional coordinator noted that post-harvest losses represent a major constraint on the development of the agri-food sector.

Applying the FAO food loss rate (13.2%) to the annual value of Senegal's agricultural production before COVID-19 (around 5.4 billion dollars), losses can be estimated at nearly 713 million dollars a year, or over 400 billion CFA francs", she pointed out.

Bintia Stephen Tchicaya pointed out that losses mainly concern horticultural products, cereals and perishable animal products such as milk, fish and meat.

Source: aps.sn/