World Grain - November 2017 - 42

FEATURE: FIGHTING TOWARD ZERO HUNGER

In Brazil, ADMI is studying ways to prevent postharvest loss due to inefficiencies in transportation.

tonnes of grain are stored in inadequate
storage facilities or in outdoor piles.
"India is obvious target when it comes
to trying to make an impact in the world
of post-harvest loss," Mindy Spencer,
assistant director of the ADM Institute,
told World Grain. "More than 194 million people go hungry there each day.
Where we're working, in Bihar (a state
in eastern India), the average income per
day is $1.25 and the post-harvest losses
are huge. It's a place where our technologies are being adopted and the people
there are very receptive to us helping to
make a change."
In January 2015, ADMI launched the
"Reduction of Postharvest Loss" project in Bihar, in collaboration with Bihar
Agricultural University, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad Central Agricultural University,
and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia.
As part of the project, ADMI created
an initiative called the ADMI Village,
which demonstrates the positive impact
of post-harvest loss reduction interventions on food availability, income and
livelihoods by identifying "hotspots"
in supply chains, testing suitable technologies and providing training and
education.
The Bihar initiative, which provides
support to nearly 5,000 farmers, the majority of which own less than one-half
hectare of farmland, has focused its efforts on improving grain storage and
drying practices of smallholder farm42

ers. More than 20,000 low-cost and reusable hermetic storage bags, at a cost
of almost $30,000 to the institute, have
been distributed in 30 villages as part of
a subsidized intervention program. The
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per family, were individually informed
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hermetic bags, in addition to information regarding safe storage practices,
drying techniques and the dangers of
mycotoxins. Once they had this information, they were willing to pay 20 rupees per bag, more than three times the
price charged for traditional jute bags.
"We're looking at having them put
some skin in the game," Spencer said.
"Adoption is usually better if the farmers have an investment in the tool that
we're providing. What our researchers
found was that people weren't always
using the bags for their intended use if
the bags were free."
She said the money that is made from
selling the bags will be used to purchase more bags that can be distributed
throughout Bihar.
"This really should be a sustainable
model," Spencer said. "We made the preliminary investment and we might have
to make one more investment in bags but
then it should be able to run itself."
ADMI also introduced the farmers to
low-cost, half-tonne capacity STR grain
dryers, which in 4 to 6 hours can drive
moisture levels in grain down from 20%

to 12%, Spencer said. The dryers are
accompanied by other mechanization
tools such as threshers, mills and moisture meters.
"The idea is that the dryers can be
built in country for somewhere around
$750," she said. "It is a low-cost, easyto-build dryer."
In addition,
researchers at the
University of Illinois are developing a
system consisting of an in-bag sensor,
a data hub, and a phone app that will
allow farmers to monitor moisture levels remotely without requiring Internet
access.
As part of implementing the bags and
dryers initiatives, ADMI and its partners
are educating the smallholder farmHUVDERXWWKHEHQH¿WVRIUHGXFLQJJUDLQ
spoilage and loss. Most farmers in the
region did not realize that post-harvest
loss reduces their income by 15%. After
learning about the dangers of mycotoxin contamination in grains and how
hermetic bags can reduce this incidence,
they were willing to spend more money
on improved storage.
"A lot of farmers living in remote
places don't really think about it as a
loss," said Sarah Bingaman Schwartz,
communications coordinator for ADMI.
"We asked them about post-harvest loss
and even with the translation they don't
really grasp that because it's just been a
part of doing business for them. They just
take for granted that they lose a certain

November 2017 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - November 2017

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