CCARDESA Pilots the Rapid Loss Assessment Tool in Tanzania

The Center for Coordination of Agriculture Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA) in conjunction with Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), GIZ and SADC-ACCRA piloted the application of Rapid Loss Assessment Tool (RLAT) in Tanzania to assess food losses in maize and sunflower value chains.

The meeting took place in Arusha from 19  to 28 August 2019 and was officially opened by the Arusha Regional Administrative Secretary Mr Richard Kwitega. Mr Kwitega was grateful that the RLAT was being piloted in Tanzania. He was particularly excited about the training as more than 70% of Tanzanians are involved in the agricultural sector, therefore the pilot will help to ensure that there are no or minimal food losses in the agriculture sector. Agriculture is important for providing food for people and livestock as well as contributing to the household and national income through agribusiness.

The primary purpose of the training was to build the capacity of researchers and other stakeholders on the use of Rapid Loss Assessment Tool (RLAT) to identify hotspots of crop loss and design effective interventions to reduce crop loss during harvest and post-harvest in order to ensure food security and nutrition. The training also helped farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to ensure that they get much of their produce for food and income while at the same time focusing on the control of the aflatoxin.

Mr Kwitega commended the RLAT Training because it is of great benefit to farmers and other stakeholders who will be involved in the agricultural value chains. He also thanked the German Government through GIZ for funding the RLAT Training and urged other donors to come on board and fund agricultural programmes to enhance food security in the region.

Mr Nathaniel Mtunji, the GIZ/ACCRA Senior Technical Advisor for Climate Proofing was spearheading the training and deemed it successful. He was hopeful that the participants will utilize the knowledge acquired for the benefit of Tanzania.

The GIZ-funded SADC programme is supporting the RLAT piloting for Adaptation to Climate Change in Rural Areas in Southern Africa (ACCRA) and the GIZ Sector Programme for Sustainable Agriculture (NAREN). The ACCRA project is housed at the CCARDESA Secretariat and is jointly implemented by CCARDESA and GIZ in the field of climate change adaptation in agriculture.