Securing the Harvest: Post-harvest Strategies to Increase Resilience
Event Information
In developing countries, as much as one-third of a season’s harvest is lost along the value chain from harvest to consumption. For grain alone, more is lost in sub-Saharan Africa to post-harvest losses (FAO estimates $4 billion annually) than all U.S. overseas food aid combined (~$2.5 billion annually). Producers of stored product crops face losses from inadequate drying and storage in the form of insect infestation, mycotoxin contamination and other issues. They also are subject to economic losses due to cashflow constraints and insufficient financial services.
Reducing such losses and developing improved financial and market systems is key to increasing resilience for these communities. Many post-harvest loss-mitigating technologies are proven effective, but adoption continues to lag. How can we get technologies and financial tools in the hands of more users, secure the harvest and ensure healthier, more resilient communities? To what extent are changes in policy needed to facilitate adoption?
Join us for the Agrilinks Post-Harvest Month webinar, where we will look at ways Feed the Future is increasing resilience in communities through innovative post-harvest interventions that reduce losses and improve economic opportunity for small and medium sized farmers. We will also look at how the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss work is generating evidence that can help inform policies that support these efforts.
Speakers
Ahmed Kablan
Senior Science & Research Advisor, Food Safety Division
Bureau for Resilience and Food Security USAID
Dr. Kablan is an International Nutrition and Public Health Advisor at USAID Bureau for Food Security. Dr. Kablan is a biotechnologist and has over 14 years of research, teaching and science policy and regulatory experience. Dr. Kablan's research focused on metabolic syndrome, malnutrition and the health consequences of obesity and being overweight. During his tenure at Feed the Future/USAID he has contributed to the publication of several policy and strategy initiatives and papers including USAID multi-sectoral nutrition strategy, USAID research Policy, Nutrition Policy and Feed the Future Nutrition action plans. Dr. Kablan is the program manager for the Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss and the Feed the Future Nutrition Innovation Lab, and manages part of the USAID-CGIAR partnership. Dr. Kablan is a member of the USAID food safety-working group, and serves on the advisory committee for the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Technical working group on food safety, and a member of the Nutrition Innovation lab technical advisory board and board of directors.
Dr. Kablan was an AAAS Science Policy and Technology Fellow (2012-2014); he earned his Ph.D. in Biotechnology & Pharmacology from the University of Bologna, Italy, and his PharmD from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan. After his Ph.D., Dr. Kablan moved back to Jordan where he was an assistant professor at the University of Jordan’s Faculty of Pharmacy, and served as SME on biosimilar drug safety, rules and regulations for the Jordanian FDA. As a consultant for the Jordanian Royal Scientific Association (JRSA), he wrote in vivo toxicity and efficacy research protocols, and helped the JRSA establish their first animal research facility.
Jagger Harvey
Director, Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Lab
Kansas State University
Jagger Harvey serves as Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss, at Kansas State University, since he joined the program in May 2016. His work on addressing fungal toxin (mycotoxin) contamination of crops spans more than 15 years, from basic research in graduate school through to developing and leading a flagship international research for development program in East Africa. His work from 2009-2016 as an early member of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub in Nairobi, Kenya, included establishment of a mycotoxin capacity building and research platform which has hosted over one hundred African researchers and their international partners. At the Innovation Lab, he is working with the team to ensure that their work is effectively translated into information, interventions and capacity to address post-harvest loss issues in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal and beyond. He also serves as Principal Investigator of the PHLIL Nepal project, a USAID Buy-In. He is passionate about raising the profile of international agricultural research for development, including benefits at home and abroad.
Georgina Bingham
Senior Technical Specialist & Global Partnerships, Food Security
Vestergaard SA
Georgina Bingham serves as the senior technical advisor and global partnerships manager of the Food Security business at Vestergaard. Within this role she has successfully brought two new food security products, under the ZeroFly® brand, from development to launch. Georgina has more than 15 years experience working in developing regions including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, and holds qualifications for project management and good clinical practice. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Georgina has a strong research and development background in agriculture and biochemistry; with a BSc (hons) in Agricultural/Animal Science from Edinburgh University; completed MSc courses (Erasmus) in Animal Physiology & Production at Wageningen University and a PhD from Imperial College London – based at Rothamsted Research UK & the Department of Primary Industries NSW Australia. She held post-doctoral posts funded through competitive grant proposals collaborating on projects with various global research institutions and private industry. Georgina is currently acting as a private partner liaison for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss, the GATES-funded sleeping sickness elimination programme TRYPA-NO, and the Costa Rican Government-funded Stable Fly Elimination programme.
George Opit
Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Lab Principal Investigator for Ghana Professor, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Oklahoma State University
Dr. George Opit is a Professor of Stored Product/Post-Harvest Pest Management in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. His broad research interests are integrated pest management and biological control of arthropod pests (http://entoplp.okstate.edu/profiles/opit.html). He has conducted important research on ZeroFly® Hermetic bags. In Ghana, Dr. Opit is the team leader for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss (PHLIL) — Ghana component (https://www.k-state.edu/phl/). PHLIL has been working in Ghana since 2014. This work in the Ghana has involved researching and evaluating on-the-shelf and in-the-field-elsewhere technologies and practices in the areas of moisture monitoring, drying, storage, and peri-harvest practices, with the goal of identifying tools that are practical and will lead to reduction in post-harvest physical and quality losses, thereby extending economic benefits to smallholder farmers and enhancing their resilience. Nine research publications from this work have provided valuable baseline information on insect infestation, moisture content, and mycotoxin data in Ghana. Dr. Opit is also involved in the creation of awareness, enhancement of demand, and establishment of efficient distribution channels for ZeroFly® Hermetic bags in Ghana.
Related Resources
Webinar Recording
Webinar Presentation Slides
Presentation Chat Transcript
Presentation Audio Transcript
Webinar Audio Recording
Additional responses to participant questions from the Agrilinks Post-harvest Webinar
Vestergaard - ZeroFly