Did you know that more than 40% of tomatoes produced in Kenya are lost after harvest? This is according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
This is a significant economic loss for farmers and a missed opportunity to combat food insecurity, a persistent regional issue. For smallholder farmers, who dominate Kenya’s agricultural landscape, these losses not only reduce their income but also contribute to a more unstable food supply for the nation.
Post-harvest losses in perishable crops like tomatoes often occur due to inadequate handling, poor storage conditions, and inefficient transportation. To learn more on how fertilizers can increase your tomatoes shelf life read our best tomatoes fertilizer guide to know more.
Impact of Post-Harvest Losses on Farmers and Food Security
Post-harvest losses have a ripple effect across the entire food supply chain. For farmers, particularly small-scale growers, losing a significant portion of their produce to spoilage means diminished income and reduced ability to reinvest in their farms. This can trap many in a cycle of poverty, making it harder for them to access modern agricultural technologies or expand production.
Additionally, these losses strain food supply chains by increasing market prices for consumers, limiting the availability of fresh produce, and reducing the overall food supply.
On a broader scale, such losses exacerbate food insecurity, as less produce reaches markets and consumers despite high agricultural output. This contradiction between high production and low food availability highlights inefficiencies within the agricultural system.
In Kenya, where hunger and malnutrition continue to affect significant portions of the population, reducing post-harvest losses could substantially improve food security.
The Importance of Addressing Post-Harvest Losses
Reducing post-harvest losses in tomato farming could provide multiple benefits. First, it could improve farmer livelihoods by increasing the produce sold in markets, thus boosting their incomes.
Farmers can earn more from the same land and resources by minimising losses, leading to economic growth in rural communities. Additionally, reducing food waste would decrease the environmental impact of agriculture, as fewer resources would be wasted on producing food that never reaches consumers.
From a national perspective, reducing losses in critical crops like tomatoes would enhance food availability, helping to address issues of hunger and malnutrition. Given that tomatoes are a staple food and a source of income for many households, ensuring more efficient handling, storage, and transportation can directly contribute to food security improvements.
By tackling these post-harvest issues, Kenya can not only support its farmers but also take strides toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger, which aims to end hunger and ensure access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all
Causes of Post-Harvest Losses in Tomatoes
Despite Kenya’s tomato production, significant portions of the crop are lost before reaching consumers due to various avoidable factors.
Understanding these causes is critical to addressing the issue effectively and reducing the substantial economic and food security impacts. These causes are:/
Poor Harvesting Techniques
One of the leading causes of post-harvest losses in tomatoes is improper timing during harvest. Tomatoes harvested too early may not ripen properly or may spoil before reaching the market, while those picked too late are more prone to over-ripening and mechanical damage during transportation.
Timing the harvest to match market demand and logistical considerations is crucial for reducing losses.
Rough Handling Leading to Physical Damage
Tomatoes are delicate and prone to bruising and crushing. Poor harvesting practices, such as using inappropriate tools or handling the fruits roughly, can result in mechanical damage.
This physical damage accelerates the degradation process, leading to spoilage during storage and transportation.
Inadequate Storage
In many rural areas of Kenya, storage infrastructure is either lacking or inadequate. Farmers often store tomatoes in open spaces or poorly ventilated rooms, which can lead to spoilage due to exposure to extreme temperatures.
Without proper storage, tomatoes are more likely to ripen too quickly, rot, or develop mold.
Rural areas without refrigeration experience high temperatures and humidity. This creates ideal conditions for accelerating spoilage in tomatoes. In addition, the lack of cold storage or basic cooling mechanisms results in rapid deterioration, especially during peak production periods when the volume of tomatoes is high.
Inefficient Transportation
Once harvested, tomatoes must be transported quickly and under the right conditions to reach markets in a fresh state. However, rural farmers are faced with the problem of long transit times. Often due to poor road infrastructure.
Lack of Protective Packaging During Transportation
Many smallholder farmers use traditional methods such as sacks for transporting tomatoes, which offer little protection. The tomatoes at the bottom of the sacks are often crushed, leading to both physical and microbial damage.
Using appropriate containers, such as plastic crates, would minimize damage during transportation.
Lack of Market Access
The rural road infrastructure, particularly in remote farming areas, is usually inadequate, making it difficult for farmers to transport their tomatoes quickly to markets. This delay often results in significant losses as tomatoes are highly perishable and cannot withstand long periods before reaching consumers.
Many farmers lack access to up-to-date market information, which can result in an oversupply of tomatoes in local markets. When market saturation occurs, farmers are unable to sell all their produce, leading to large quantities of tomatoes being left unsold and ultimately going to waste.
Solutions for Reducing Post-Harvest Losses in Tomatoes
Addressing post-harvest losses in tomatoes requires a multifaceted approach, combining harvesting, storage, transportation, and market access strategies.
Implementing these solutions can significantly reduce losses, increase farmer incomes, and improve food security in Kenya.
Improved Harvesting Techniques
One way to improve harvesting techniques is to educate farmers on when to harvest tomatoes based on market needs. Tomatoes harvested at the “breaker” stage, when they are just starting to change color, are ideal for longer transport because they continue ripening off the vine.
On the other hand, those harvested when fully ripe are ideal for local markets. Training programs can help farmers understand these distinctions, leading to better timing and reduced spoilage.
In addition, farmers can significantly reduce mechanical damage during harvest by using appropriate containers, such as plastic crates, instead of traditional sacks. These containers prevent tomatoes from being crushed or bruised, which are common causes of post-harvest spoilage. Additionally, ensuring that containers are cleaned and properly maintained can reduce the risk of contamination during storage and transit.
Using Enhanced Storage Solutions
Farmers can use Zero-energy cool chambers as an affordable and sustainable solution for storing tomatoes in areas without electricity.
These chambers use evaporative cooling to keep produce cool and extend shelf life without the need for electrical power. This solution is particularly useful for smallholder farmers in remote areas, where access to refrigeration is limited.
Similarly, larger farmers and cooperatives can benefit from cold storage facilities and refrigerated transport to keep tomatoes fresh over longer periods.
Cold storage refrigeration slows the ripening process and reduces the risk of spoilage due to high temperatures. Encouraging investment in shared cold storage facilities can help rural farming communities preserve their harvests longer and transport tomatoes to distant markets without significant losses.
Efficient Transportation and Packaging
Tomato farmers should shift from traditional methods of transporting tomatoes in bags or sacks to using plastic crates.
Plastic crates reduce damage during transit and provide better protection from crushing, bruising, and contamination. This ensures that tomatoes remain intact and fresh during the journey to market.
These crates are stackable, allowing for efficient use of space in transport vehicles, reducing the risk of spoilage due to overcrowding.
Access to Better Market Information
Tomato farmers should leverage technology to create digital platforms where they can connect directly with buyers. This strategy would reduce the time tomatoes spend unsold, thus lowering the risk of spoilage. Similarly, mobile applications and online marketplaces can help farmers access real-time market information, facilitating quicker transactions and more efficient
Another strategy would be to ensure that farmers have adequate market information, leading to oversupply in some areas while other markets experience shortages.
By offering training on market demand, pricing trends, and consumer preferences, farmers can better plan their planting and harvesting cycles, reducing the likelihood of oversupply and ensuring more consistent income throughout the year.
The Role of Technology and Innovation in Reducing Tomato Losses
Technological advancements and innovative solutions are crucial in addressing post-harvest losses in Kenya’s tomato industry.
By leveraging mobile technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), innovative packaging, and agro-processing, farmers can minimize waste and extend shelf life.
These solutions benefit smallholder farmers, allowing them to better manage their crops, improve storage, and access broader markets.
Post-Harvest Handling Technologies
One post-harvest handling technology that tomato farmers can use is mobile applications. In Kenya, farmers can use mobile-based platforms to track planting schedules, monitor market prices, and coordinate logistics with buyers, reducing the time tomatoes spend in storage or transit.
Apps like Sokopepe and M-Farm provide farmers with real-time information on demand and pricing trends, enabling them to sell produce more efficiently and reduce waste.
Similarly, farmers can also use IoT-enabled sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, and other key storage conditions in real-time.
These sensors can alert farmers when environmental conditions will likely cause spoilage, allowing them to take preventive measures, such as adjusting storage settings or moving produce to cooler locations. This technology ensures that storage conditions remain optimal, extending the shelf life of tomatoes.
Use of Innovative Packaging Solutions
Another approach would be for farmers to use Using eco-friendly packaging materials, such as biodegradable plastics or plant-based wraps. These materials help reduce waste while maintaining the quality of tomatoes during transit and storage.
Similarly, they offer protection from mechanical damage and spoilage while being environmentally sustainable. This is especially important as Kenya seeks to reduce plastic waste and promote sustainable agriculture.
Use Vacuum Packaging to Extend Shelf Life
Vacuum packaging removes air from the packaging, and this significantly slows the ripening process and extends the shelf life of tomatoes.
This method is particularly useful for transporting tomatoes over long distances, as it reduces exposure to oxygen and prevents moisture loss, both of which accelerate spoilage.
Agro-Processing and Value Addition
Establishing Local Processing Plants to Turn Surplus Tomatoes Into Value-Added Products: Agro-processing can be a game-changer in reducing tomato waste. By processing surplus tomatoes into products such as tomato paste, sauces, or dried tomatoes, farmers can add value to their harvests and extend the product’s shelf life.
Local processing plants can absorb excess produce, especially during the harvest season when tomatoes often flood the market and prices drop.
This strategy not only reduces waste but also provides farmers with additional revenue streams.
Promoting Tomato Cooperatives for Shared Access to Processing and Storage Facilities: Forming tomato cooperatives can enable smallholder farmers to pool their resources and gain access to shared processing and storage facilities. These cooperatives can invest in essential equipment like dryers, grinders, and cold storage, which individual farmers may not be able to afford.
By working together, farmers can increase the efficiency of their operations, reduce losses, and scale up value-added production.
Reducing post-harvest losses in tomatoes is essential for boosting farmer incomes and improving food security in Kenya. By adopting better harvesting practices, improving storage, and utilizing innovative technology, farmers can significantly cut losses and extend the shelf life of their produce.
If you’re a tomato farmer looking to reduce post-harvest losses by up to 60%, contact us today and get in touch for our agronomist in Kenya service. We provide tailored solutions in harvesting, storage, and transportation to help protect your crops and maximize profits. Let’s work together to secure your harvest and increase your earnings!
