As a developing country, Bangladesh experiences high rates of postharvest loss for fruits and vegetables (17-32%) and fish (25%). This food loss threatens Bangladesh’s goal of achieving of nutritional security and puts vulnerable populations at increased risk of malnutrition. Through grants to universities such as Texas State, USAID assists the Bangladesh government in addressing this issue by investing in postharvest infrastructure development and digital agriculture, among other strategies, to reduce food loss.
Texas State will work to co-create a cost-effective storage, packaging and cooling innovation bundle, as well as introduce a lean business model to help reduce postharvest loss in Bangladesh. The project will evaluate existingtechnologies, market structures, and policies to identify areas along these value chains that need improvement in terms of cost-effectiveness. The development of a lean business model is expected to increase access to the market through a mobile app for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs), farmers and other value chain actors.
The project will also implement extensive training programs to improve human and institutional capacity. The training component will be based on the findings stemming from the development of co-created innovation bundles as well as the lean business model. This is expected to improve the capacity of Bangladesh universities and government agencies to offer the most relevant training to farmers, processors, distributors, and SMEs in the domestic market. Improved collaboration among Bangladesh educational institutions, public organizations and private organizations will also help to enhance the nation’s domestic capabilities and self-reliance.
Although the project is designed to meet Bangladesh-specific research priorities, the integrated, multidisciplinary and cost-effective value chain approach of the project can also be adapted for other developing countries with similar perishable product value chains in the future.
Source : txst.edu