By Esther Nakkazi
After three years of intensive research, the RTB-ENDURE project will present research findings on expanding the utilisation of Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) in a workshop on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th December 2016 at Crane Hall, Imperial Golf View Hotel, Entebbe.
An exhibition of RTB Technologies and Innovations will also be held alongside the workshop at the Botanical Gardens, which are located close to the hotel.
The project from 2014 to 2016 has added value to the fresh products of roots, tubers, and bananas, expanded their utilisation and reduced on their post-harvest losses among communities in the East African region, said Diego Naziri, a Post-harvest Specialist at International Potato Center (CIP).
Uganda has hosted the $4 million European Union (EU) funded project.
Realising RTB’s full potential as crops and as products in Africa is important as they are food security crops, important sources of income, are less susceptible to price fluctuations in the world food market as compared to grains and legumes.
CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas data entails that these are consumed as a staple food and they contribute over 20 percent of caloric requirements and constitute nearly two-thirds of per-capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa.
CGAIR-RTB project also confirms that Post-harvest losses are much higher with this group of crops than with grains, as inherent bulkiness and perishability have traditionally limited them to on-farm and local markets.
However, they are bulky, perishable, with a limiting shelf life and short direct marketing. Africa lacks handling and storage technologies of RTBs and with an underdeveloped potential for value addition.
Naziri says the RTB-ENDURE project has been a research-for-development that has placed research in the context of value chains and the demands and needs of its actors in the production, postharvest handling, processing, marketing, and business organization to make the chain function more efficiently.”
An exhibition of RTB Technologies and Innovations will also be held alongside the workshop at the Botanical Gardens, which are located close to the hotel.
The project from 2014 to 2016 has added value to the fresh products of roots, tubers, and bananas, expanded their utilisation and reduced on their post-harvest losses among communities in the East African region, said Diego Naziri, a Post-harvest Specialist at International Potato Center (CIP).
Uganda has hosted the $4 million European Union (EU) funded project.
Realising RTB’s full potential as crops and as products in Africa is important as they are food security crops, important sources of income, are less susceptible to price fluctuations in the world food market as compared to grains and legumes.
CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas data entails that these are consumed as a staple food and they contribute over 20 percent of caloric requirements and constitute nearly two-thirds of per-capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa.
CGAIR-RTB project also confirms that Post-harvest losses are much higher with this group of crops than with grains, as inherent bulkiness and perishability have traditionally limited them to on-farm and local markets.
However, they are bulky, perishable, with a limiting shelf life and short direct marketing. Africa lacks handling and storage technologies of RTBs and with an underdeveloped potential for value addition.
Naziri says the RTB-ENDURE project has been a research-for-development that has placed research in the context of value chains and the demands and needs of its actors in the production, postharvest handling, processing, marketing, and business organization to make the chain function more efficiently.”
For more about the new innovations on this RTB-ENDURE project please follow #RTB on twitter and more will be highlighted on this blog.
Ends
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