背景
Like many countries in Africa, Uganda’s economy is highly dependent upon the agricultural sector, which contributes to over 70% of its export earnings and is the main source of livelihood and employment for over 60% of the population, and in some areas of the country up to 90%. At the same time, the agricultural sector suffers from inefficiency and low productivity, and the government has identified agriculture – and especially the development of key export areas such as horticulture and fisheries – as the pillars of a strategy for increasing Ugandan economic and social development. The fundamental challenges in Ugandan agriculture are connected to high post-harvest losses, lack of access to affordable technology, and access to medium and long-term financing. In particular food wastage from poor post-harvest storage carry a heavy toll on economies and populations in Africa, where the FAO estimates food losses could feed 300 million people. These losses represent a “double” waste of energy, in that both the energy put into production, as well as the chemical energy stored in the food itself, are wasted in post-harvest losses.
