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State of post-harvest in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus |
R. S. ROLLE, Agricultural Support Systems Division (AGS), Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, 00100, Italy The past thirty-five years have witnessed an evolution of post-harvest priorities in developing countries, from a primarily technical focus geared toward the reduction of losses, to a more holistic approach designed to link on-farm activities to processing, marketing and distribution. Despite this evolution of trends, high post-harvest losses, weak research and development capacity and inadequacies in policies, infrastructure and in information exchange remain fundamental problems and concerns in all five developing regions of the globe. The predominance of labour intensive and rudimentary post-harvest and processing technologies in low-income economies such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia and the Caucasus, negatively impacts on the food security and nutritional status of millions in these regions. The role of food scientists in addressing these critical concerns is pivotal.
Session 24, State of postharvest preservation technologies in developing countries
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