If you visit Wakulima, Korokocho or any other market in Kenya, you will see Lorries loaded with hundreds if not, thousands of fruits or vegetables.
If not, hardworking women-trying to eke a living will be seated in the hot sun; their produce placed on gunny-bags lined on the ground, just next to them is slurry from yesterdays’ rain.
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As the fruits or vegetables are piled on each other in the Lorries cabins, they bruise each other, those at the bottom squashed.
To crown it all, two or more brokers are sitting on them as they haggle with customers.
By the end of a single day, 10% of the produce will go bad. If it takes 3 days to sell all the produce, over 30% of the produce is destroyed.
Let’s get back to the women. If some of the produce they were selling remained at the end of the day, can’t be sold the following day as the sun will have wilted it.
It has been observed; over 40% of agricultural produce is destroyed at the post harvest stage.
This loss would have led to higher incomes and changed the fortunes of farmers and those product supply chain.
At times a total loss can occur if the produce is highly perishable; for example vegetables and fruits.
We must understand that seeds, vegetable or fruits are living commodities that continue to respire long after they have been detached from the mother plant.
Seeds respire slowly therefore can handle rough treatment and still be viable years later.
This is not the case for vegetables and fruits for they respire and deteriorate very fast after suffering wounds from rough treatment.
Who is the loser at the end of the day? – The farmer. The broker would have made their cut, the city council theirs- the farmer crying all the way to his wife!
When Kenyans are selling produce to the international markets, it is well packaged, handled and inspected by our best graduates who work for KEPHIS [Kenya plant health inspectorate service]
What happens when we want to sell produce locally? Nobody cares! - The produce is loaded and ferried in a dirty pickup that probably ferried a corpse the other day.
When the produce gets to the market who handles it? Your guess is right- it is that ‘fella’ who is water phobic.
The last time he had a shower was when he was rained on as he was caring a 100 kilo sack of potatoes.
The logic behind this article is- you can earn more if you mind how you handle produce as you will reduce wastes due to rotting.
Have a careful day! Will you?
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