more extensive when moisture levels are high, 

 creating conditions for increased fungal and insect 

 attack. 



Existing technologies and trained technologists 

 could be used in the application of postharvest loss- 

 reduction technigues geared to the differing needs of 

 the following groups: 



Small farmers and landless labor where little or no 

 money is available, family labor is abundant, only 

 local materials are available, and extension 

 services are inadequate. Women are a particularly 

 important target group in this category. Too often 

 assistance programs have provided rural men with 

 training, credit, and tools and deprived poor rural 

 women of whatever economic status they possessed. 



— Medium and large farmers (including village grain 

 merchants) where cash resources and hired labor are 

 available but access to modern technology is 

 limited. 



— Government and quasigovernment operations where 

 international credit and aid and large-scale 

 technology are available but technical skill is 

 weak. 



Some of these problems can be alleviated by 

 appropriate use of known technologies. Others, in 

 which technology is not known, present opportunities 

 for further exchange of information and cooperative 

 research, e.g., on protection of perishables from the 

 excessive heat and humidity of the tropics. Social 

 science research is also needed on why so much food is 

 lost when the need for food is so acute; the results of 

 such research will be of value in designing training 

 and educational programs. Particular attention should 

 be given to the need for more technically trained men 

 and women, especially at the village level, and not 

 necessarily to a need for more Ph.D.s. 



Rationale for Selecting this Topic 



Governments, donor agencies, and research groups 

 have usually emphasized two strategies for coping with 

 current and future demands for food: (1) increasing 

 food supplies by increasing production, and (2) 

 reducing future demand by slowing population growth. A 

 third strategy that would complement these has been 

 given much less attention by the international 

 development community: reducing and preventing 

 postharvest food losses. 



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